The Baxter Police Department has hired a needed officer to help cover the midnight shift.
Baxter Police Chief Al Reyes said the aldermen gave the police department permission to hire an officer so that the department would have more than one officer on duty for the midnight shift. Reyes said the extra help due to a growing population.
“With more people, you have more crime, so it becomes necessary to have more police officers,” Reyes said. “So we are kind of looking forward to watching the city grow, but we are gonna be ready no matter what happens, and that’s just the way we looked at things when we hired this officer.”
Reyes said the department stood patient in the hiring process and believes they have hired the right candidate. Reyes said with an additional officer he does feel some sense of relief.
“It helps all the way around,” Reyes said. “Before, if somebody on midnights wanted to take the day off or something it was crucial that they put in for it several weeks in advance so we could make some adjustments and somebody would have to cover the midnight shift. I covered a few, and we all work together to make sure that we cover it, but now with the extra person, it makes it a lot easier.”
Reyes said the police department is not looking to hire any more officers for the time being. However, Reyes said that could change.
“The way that our city is growing, it’s certainly not on the back burner anymore,” Reyes said. “We watch the stats and keep an eye on how we are set, and if we continue to grow, we are gonna have to continue to grow the police department also.”
Reyes said Baxter has recently seen more traffic in the midnight hours than it has in previous years.
