Ridgefield police services soon back to full strength

Following a shortage of officers as Ridgefield continues to grow, city Police Chief Cathy Doriot affirms the department will be fully staffed within the year.

Ridgefield City Clerk Julie Ferriss swore in four new RPD officers last week at the June 27 City Council meeting, which marks six new hires in 2024.

Two officers, Tanner Steward and Thomas Erazo, arrive with over two years of policing experience. Officers Jennifer Leon and Colin Triber have graduated from the basic academy and will soon patrol Ridgefield after two months of training. Erazo, who is bilingual, brings two and a half years of experience from the Longview Police Department. Steward worked in the Washington State Patrol before patrolling Central Washington University for two years.

Doriot anticipates that the upcoming commercial developments in the city, including the addition of Costco, will increase public safety demand in the city, which will be served by the new officers.

“As we grow, we need to make sure that we’re staffing adequately to meet the needs that that [growing] population brings with it,” Doriot said. “We want to make sure that we are continuing to provide the type of safe community that Ridgefield is known for … We will be, hopefully, much more visible on the road because there will be more [officers].”

RPD operated with ten officers and three sergeants on patrol prior to 2024. position was budgeted by the City. Doriot plans to hire a new officer in July and will promote a fourth sergeant this fall, which would fully staff RPD in 2024 at 17. Additionally, Doriot will promote an officer to detective once the new hires are fully trained in September.

As RPD becomes fully staffed, the department will budget its services for next year.

“I wanted to make sure that those that we brought on were a really good fit for our community. They’re going to interact well with our residents and the hard-working people [who] understand what we’re trying to do here at Ridgefield when it comes to policing and maintaining a really safe community … To bring six on in one year, we’ve never done that before. It’s the most that we’ve hired in one year,” Doriot said.