GRANTS PASS, Ore. – The chief of police in Grants Pass is heading up a program dedicated to improving the downtown area. The Public Safety Cadet program was just approved by city council Monday.
Any resident can sign up to become a cadet, but they’re not a sworn officer. Instead, it’s someone who patrols downtown and the parks. Cadets could assist GPDPS with lower level citations in the downtown area, which the public safety chief says there’s been a rise in.
He says the first goal of the program is to educate the public about the laws of the city.
“We’re not there to write a bunch of tickets to people, we’re there to be more boots on the ground in our downtown corridor. We just want to educate and if we have to provide some citations along the way we’re not opposed to doing that as well,” Public Safety Chief, Warren Hensman said.
The cadet positions are part-time. Chief Hensman says this would be an opportunity for high school seniors or college students interested in law enforcement careers.
The city council still has to amend the municipal code to officially enact the cadet program in the downtown area.
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