Quincy Police Department chief does much swearing in

QUINCY — Quincy Police Department Chief Kieth Siebert has done a lot of swearing in over the last three weeks.

At a regular meeting of the Quincy City Council on Tuesday, Siebert administered the oath of office to three new Quincy Police Department detectives — Isaiah Graham, Jazzlynn Silva and Damon Powell — as well as newly promoted Sgt. Joe Westby.

And at a meeting in early December, Siebert swore in a brand new patrol officer, 22-year-old Jerry Martinez, who joins the QPD as a patrol officer after recently graduating from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission’s Basic Law Enforcement Academy in Burien.

“He’s a young kid,” Siebert said of Martinez.

The three new detectives, all veteran officers with the QPD, begin three-year terms as detectives, Siebert said, while Westby replaces Sgt. Paul Snyder, who retired in October.

Siebert said each detective will fill a specialist role — narcotics detective to handle drug investigations, major crimes detective to investigate deaths or sexual assaults, and a street crime detective to examine graffiti and gang violence as well as help out with narcotics and major case investigations.

“Each has specific training, and that takes about a year,” Siebert said. “I would like to see their terms last longer, but that’s covered in the collective bargaining agreement.”

After three years, Siebert said the officers will head back to patrol, which allows them to share the experience and knowledge with patrol officers.

“Which is a good thing,” he said.

To be eligible to take the exam and become a detective, an officer must have served at least four years on patrol — two in the QPD — while officers seeking promotion to sergeant must have served five years in uniform, with two of those in Quincy.

“There are some officers that never promote or do anything special because they enjoy patrol,” Siebert said. “But we encourage everyone to take the test regardless, just in case.”

And Siebert said he is not quite done with all the swearing in, with a conditional offer made to one new officer and another bound for the law enforcement academy.

“It will be a while, since the academy is backlogged about five months or so,” he said.

Currently, Siebert said the Quincy Police have 22 uniformed officers, including himself, Capt. Ryan Green, four sergeants, three detectives, one school resource officer and one community officer responsible primarily for enforcing city code, with one patrol officer spot open.