ELKHART — The Elkhart City Police Commission on Monday voted to hire two police officer candidates, accepted administrative personnel notices and adopted its meeting calendar for 2026.

The commission approved the meeting agenda and minutes before taking personnel actions. The commission voted to appoint an applicant identified in the record as Adolfo and also approved the hire of Gregory James, described by department staff as an Elkhart native and a Memorial High School graduate. Both votes passed on roll-call voice votes recorded as affirmative by the commissioners present.

Chief of Police presented both candidates to the commission, saying they met the department’s background and training requirements and that the hires would strengthen local staffing. "We support you'd always want to service community in a positive impact," the chief said while recommending the appointments.

Mayor Robertson administered the oath of office to the newly appointed officers. In the oath, recited during the swearing-in, the appointees pledged to "diligently, honestly, faithfully, and impartially perform all of my duties as a police officer of the city of Elkhart according to the law" and to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Indiana." After the oath, staff paused the meeting for photographs.

The commission also received an informational status change: Andrew Riley will move from third-class patrolman to second-class patrolman after completing his first year of service. No commission action was required for that promotion.

Chief notified the commission that Patrolman Dylan Bachelor submitted his resignation on Nov. 10 after nearly 12 months with the department. The resignation was accepted as a notification to the commission.

The chief further presented a disciplinary notification: Patrolman Justin Sherman was issued a letter of reprimand for two policy violations related to work performance. A commissioner asked for clarification of the underlying issue and cited a performance statute referenced in the discussion. The chief said the department determines adherence to traffic-control directives through dispatch logs and officer traffic-stop records and gave internal examples of how those logs show differing stop counts among officers. "We know because, every time an officer puts on a traffic stop, he notifies dispatch, and that's recorded in our account system," the chief said.

The commission then reviewed and approved its meeting schedule for 2026.

Votes at a glance
- Motion to approve the meeting agenda — passed (affirmative recorded from Reverend Jim Mays; Thomas Barber; Brad Billings; Cliff Hildreth).
- Motion to approve Oct. 27 minutes — passed (affirmative recorded from Reverend Jim Mays; Thomas Barber; Brad Billings; Cliff Hildreth).
- Motion to hire applicant "Adolfo" as police officer — passed (affirmative recorded from Reverend Jim Mays; Thomas Barber; Brad Billings; Cliff Hildreth).
- Motion to hire Gregory James as police officer — passed (affirmative recorded from Reverend Jim Mays; Thomas Barber; Brad Billings; Cliff Hildreth).
- Motion to adopt 2026 meeting dates — passed (affirmative recorded from Reverend Jim Mays; James Rickoff; Thomas Barber; Brad Billings; Cliff Hildreth).

The meeting concluded with no public comments and the commission adjourned.

What’s next: The commission did not schedule additional business on these personnel items; the promotions and personnel notices will be reflected in department records.