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Council approves three police hires as two long-serving officers announce retirements
Summary
Council authorized hiring three new police officers contingent on testing and background checks after the police chief reported upcoming retirements that will reduce the department's senior ranks and create short-term staffing challenges.
Columbia Borough Council approved hiring three police officer candidates contingent upon successful employment testing and background checks after Police Chief Rahmer notified council that two senior officers plan to retire on Aug. 1 and another officer is expected to retire later in the year.
Chief Rahmer said officers with 27 and 28 years of service had given notice and that the department currently has a complement of 19 officers. To mitigate upcoming losses the chief asked to send three or four attendees to the police academy starting July 7; those officers would complete training and not be fully productive until some months later. "They're gonna start in July," Chief Rahmer said, and he estimated the new hires would be productive next spring.
Council approved contingent hires in three separate motions. The meeting record lists motions to hire (as read into the record) Blaine Schaffner, Toby Koehler/Kohler, and Nathan Nowak as police officers contingent upon passage of required employment testing and a thorough background examination; each motion passed by voice vote with no recorded dissents.
Council members and civil service representatives said the candidates scored highly on tests and that civil service had been impressed by their quality; several council members noted it has been difficult nationwide to recruit officers. Council also noted that some field training officers will be unavailable while training new hires, creating a temporary coverage gap; the chief warned this could mean shorter-term reductions in specialized assignments such as the drug task force.
No vote tally by name was recorded in the public minutes; council approved the hires by unanimous voice vote. Council asked that civil-service paperwork be filed with the borough records.
