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By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – Port Angeles will be getting a new fulltime Downtown Resource Police Officer in the near future after the City Council approved the City’s half of the funding Tuesday night.

The other half of the Resource Officer’s payroll, $60,000, will come from the downtown business owners themselves. Chamber of Commerce Director Marc Abshire says the Elevate PA 2026 campaign has been instrumental in getting this and other goals accomplished.

“So, this really stems from the two-plus year effort of Elevate PA 2026, where we reached out to the community and to the business and property owners downtown to prioritize and build the strategic action plan that we’re following. And it was probably the highest priority amongst the downtown business and property owners to get a security presence in the downtown area, to make people feel more safe and secure. There used to be an officer dedicated to the downtown, and Elevate PA is trying to bring that back once again.”

Abshire says the merchants are helped greatly by the fact that Clallam Transit is in a position to kick in $25,000 per year on their own.

“I just want to recognize that there are some business owners downtown that really cannot afford to chip in on this project. And they’re not expected to, really. We’re just really thankful that there are some business and property owners who care enough about this and are able to chip in some funds to make this happen and cover it for everybody that cares about the downtown area.”

Police Chief Brian Smith says, now that the funding is in place, he is working on getting one of his officers assigned to the new position, which will make room for him to be able to hire a new recruit to backfill his officer staff later on.

We asked the Chief to describe his vision for a successful Resource Officer’s duties and role in the downtown area.

“In terms of how it’ll work operationally, the schedule will vary depending on the needs. That officer will be a uniformed officer with a marked vehicle, mostly working out of  the downtown office. The person that hired will be highly suitable in terms of being a self-starter, and a problem solver, and be able to identify where’s the most value and how they can leverage other resources. The goal is proactive police work, preventive activities and a visible presence in a really significant part of the city, the downtown core.”

With City funding in place, an officer being assigned from existing staff, and the downtown merchants just a week or so away from putting their half of the funds together, Chamber Director Abshire says he’s hopeful the new Downtown resource Office will be on the job by the end of this winter.