New officer joins Quincy PD
Emily Pratt takes the Quincy Police Department oath of office during Tuesday’s Quincy City Council meeting. Pratt said she's excited to start the new position and that community service has been a long-time goal of hers.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
New Quincy Police Department officer Emily Pratt, right, signs her oath of office Tuesday as QPD Chief Keith Siebert looks on.
New Quincy Police Department officer Emily Pratt, front, shakes hands with Quincy City Council member Dylan Klin. From left: Council Member Tom Harris, Mayor Paul Worley and Council Member Sonia Padron look on.
QUINCY — Emily Pratt said she’s always been interested in helping the community, and being a police officer is the way she wants to do that. Pratt was sworn in as the newest Quincy Police Department officer at the regular Quincy City Council meeting Tuesday.
“I’m very excited,” Pratt said about starting her new job.
Quincy Police Chief Keith Siebert said Pratt started her field training with QPD Monday.
Pratt said she worked for two years as a corrections deputy at the Chelan County Regional Jail in Wenatchee before applying for the position with QPD. Community service was something that always attracted her, she said, and joining QPD gives her a chance to act on that ambition.
“It’s a dream that I’ve had since I was very young,” she said.
Pratt said she was raised in Wenatchee.
“She brings a lot of skills,” Siebert said. “She’s willing to learn.”
Siebert said Pratt’s CCRJ experience will be valuable to the department. Corrections officers don’t carry weapons, so they have to learn how to adjudicate disputes and handle situations in different ways than police officers, he said.
“She’s very driven and very passionate about the job,” Siebert said.
Along with the field training, Siebert said the QPD is giving its new officers additional training for specific situations, what he called a mini-academy. The Basic Law Enforcement Academy has had to adjust its classes to take into account new training mandated by state law, he said, and for the QPD that means some instruction has been added in-house.
Pratt’s addition means the QPD is almost fully staffed, Siebert said. A new QPD officer graduates from the law enforcement academy this week, filling the last open position.
Council members approved hiring a second school resource officer in September. Siebert said the department has a candidate for that position.
The new SRO will start work at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year. The QPD already has one SRO.
Quincy School District superintendent Nik Bergman, speaking at the Sept. 20 council meeting, said the two SROs will visit the district’s elementary schools but will have offices at, and be stationed at, Quincy High School and Quincy Middle School.
Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
