Hermiston to pursue police-accreditation work; budget would add a lieutenant to manage patrol oversight

Hermiston managers told the committee the police department must complete an accreditation process after growing its roster, and the 2025-26 budget proposes adding a lieutenant to handle day-to-day patrol oversight while the captain focuses on accreditation work.

City Manager Byron Smith and public-safety staff explained that adding officers to the Good Shepherd beat pushed the department over a staffing threshold that requires participation in the state accreditation program. "When we added those officers it pushed us over a minimum number of officers that requires us to now participate in an accreditation program," Smith said. Accreditation requires extensive documentation and reporting to show compliance with best-practice standards.

Staff said accreditation involves more than 100 standards and requires re-accreditation every three years. The proposed lieutenant position is intended to take supervisory duties off the captain so the captain can manage the accreditation workload. Staff also noted potential upside: accreditation can make the department eligible for certain grants and supports transparency and training tracking.

The budget line for police reflects a roughly 9% increase over last year driven by personnel and the upcoming move back into a renovated public-safety center. The committee discussed training implications and staffing; staff said routine officer training will continue and that the accreditation process focuses on documenting and reporting that training and practices.

The committee did not take a separate vote on the staffing request beyond approving the overall budget that includes the lieutenant position.