PORT TOWNSEND — Positions are opening on the Port Townsend Police Department.
A sergeant and a patrol officer are retiring. Another patrol officer has taken a position with the Oak Harbor Police Department.
“There is a lot of opportunity here right now,” said Chief Conner Daily.
“We will be hiring three new officers, and I want to make sure the force maintains its close ties to the community and people feel comfortable coming to us with an issue or a concern.”
The change is immediate.
As of today, Officer Matt Krysinski, 38, is moving to the Oak Harbor Police Department where he will work under Ed Green, a former Port Townsend sergeant who is now chief.
Also today, Officer Bill Corrigan, 60, retires after 10 years on the force.
Corrigan’s retirement will be followed by that of Sgt. Joe Kaare, 61, who has been on the force for 18 years.
Two sergeant positions, replacing Green and Kaare, will be filled internally by Detective Jason Greenspane, 40, and Officer Garin Williams, 43, who has spent the last few years as school resource officer.
Returning to the school resource position will be Sgt. Troy Surber, who held that position before Williams.
“We are fortunate that Troy can take this on because he won’t need any training,” Daily said.
Job candidates will be referred through law enforcement screening sources, although the department plans to advertise directly, Daily said.
After Kaare retires in October, the department will have 13 certified employees, two support staff and about 24 volunteers.
After their retirement, both Kaare and Corrigan plan to work as reserves until the positions are filled.
During that time, all officers — including Daily — will work patrol, he said.
Daily, 63, said he has no immediate plans to retire.
“There are a lot of things I still want to do,” he said.
“I want to continue to improve the connection between the police and the public that we have here.”
The police station was relocated from the downtown area in 2009, taking over part of the Mountain View Commons at 1925 Blaine St.
Since that time, several nonprofits have taken residence in the school, something Daily said has provided a unique service to the community.
“We have surrounded ourselves with other services so there are people who see us all the time even though they don’t have contact with the police,” he said.
“So we interact with them in a friendly way and this develops a connection, so they see us as more than the guy in the car with the red light on.”
