The Centralia Police Department has a new patrol officer and community service officer (CSO) among its ranks following the Centralia City Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Centralia Police Chief Stacy Denham introduced them both to the council and those in attendance. Jacob Edwards is the department’s newly hired CSO, a position that aids police officers by responding to nuisances and other lower priority calls.
Originally raised on the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Denham said Edwards now lives in Oakville and just got married to his wife, Jordyn, who works for Chehalis Tribal Corrections.
Edwards has prior law enforcement experience, including working for three years at the Chehalis Tribal Jail and graduating from the U.S. Indian Police Academy, part of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, New Mexico.
“So he has quite a bit of experience transporting people and dealing with people who need to go to jail,” Denham said.
He said Edwards is still aiming to become a fully fledged police officer as it has been a life-long goal.
“(Edwards) felt he needed a little more of an education first, so he decided to come work for us as a CSO,” Denham said. “... He was going to come here and was going to learn a little bit and make sure he fully understood before he took that next step. I thought that was a really mature way to look at it and a great way to start off his career.”
Following Edwards’ introduction, Denham introduced Christian Swinehart as the department’s newest officer before swearing him in and pinning on his badge. Denham said Swinehart graduated from the police academy on Feb. 27, the same day he was introduced.
While Swinehart has spent some time living in Alaska, he was born and raised in Centralia. “Christian and his family moved back to Lewis County in 2015, where he was in the Chehalis School District,” Denham said.
He said Swinehart wanted to be a police officer from a young age after witnessing his uncle die from an overdose.
“He also wants to be a police officer to keep his family safe,” Denham said.
Swinehart’s girlfriend and mother of his two children, Alissa McDrummond, pinned on his badge.
