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Police chief warns vacancies will slow investigations as public-safety fee covers station debt
Summary
Police Chief Hugh Smith said the department will not fill several positions — including a detective-sergeant and records/evidence specialist — and warned that leaving those vacancies will slow casework and discovery processing; officials said a separate public-safety fee has been used to repay station debt.
The St. Helens police department will not fill several vacant positions and expects operational impacts if current budget assumptions hold, Chief Hugh Smith told residents at a city forum.
Chief Smith said the department has left a detective-sergeant position and an open police officer post unfilled and will not hire a records/property-evidence specialist. “Not filling a police officer position, that's gonna affect your minimum staffing…
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