The Aberdeen Police Department started 2023 with a flurry of internal promotions as many officers moved up the ladder, filling gaps in the structure left by retirements.

Chief Dale Green, himself recently ascended to the lofty ranks of the top spot, said even though a lot of the officers are new to the roles they’re promoted into, they’re all veterans of the department and have seen the job done.

“It is truly a time of tremendous growth as an agency and for those individuals,” Green said in an email. “One thing I like to say is that even though they are all in new roles, they are very experienced. Their potential and experience will ensure we will have a relatively smooth transition and I am certain they will adapt quickly.”

Cody Blodgett, Jason Capps, and Jesus Martinez were all promoted to sergeant. Sgt. David Cox was promoted to lieutenant, Lt. Steve Timmons was promoted to commander, and Lt. Andy Snodgrass moved into the deputy chief position, according to a social media post.

“We have 38 sworn officers,” Snodgrass said in an interview. “Seven is a lot. It’s a lot of learning new jobs, learning new roles, giving up jobs pretty quickly.”

The promotions shouldn’t introduce any interruptions of service, Snodgrass said — officers are learning their new roles as well as stepping back from their old ones to let other new promotions take over with speed.

“I have not really seen any surprises yet, absent the sheer number of leadership spots we had to fill in a short period of time. We literally ran out of badges and some ended up with hand-me-downs as we await new ones,” Green said. “With everyone learning their new jobs, myself included, there can be some times where we have to stop and say, ‘OK, who is supposed to be doing that?’”

Green said he and the department are sorting out their responsibilities so that everyone is playing to their strengths.

“Our job descriptions give us guidance, but it is really trying to line people up with responsibilities that best suit their leadership style,” Green said. “With the ever changing landscape of police work, we are used to being able to adapt on the fly and know change is just a part of the program.”

Shifting gears

For many of those promoted, their step up the ladder involves stepping back from being as hands on, and moving into more of a support and administrative role, Snodgrass said.

“My job is changing from ‘hey, let’s go do this, cops.’ I’m trying the support them,” Snodgrass said. “The day-to-day police work, I don’t have my hand in as much as I used to. I think that’ll be the hardest part of the transition to deputy chief.”

Green said that with the promotions, most of the major roles that were going to come open with this cycle of officers aging out had been filled.

“I am hopeful the bulk of the retirements have taken place, so we still have some holes to fill. We have a detective slot we have not been able to fill due to staffing. Getting some new hires on the road will allow us to get back to a full team of three detectives and a sergeant in investigations,” Green said. “If we are able to get several of those off the list and we are at full capacity we can look at getting a pro-act unit started again.”

This many simultaneous promotions is something he’d not seen before, Snodgrass said.

“Not since I’ve been here. I came over to APD in 2006. I have not seen it since 2006, not at this magnitude,” Snodgrass said. “You get a promotion here, a promotion there.”

Staffing is a perennial issue for many departments, with a long vetting and training pipeline, Green said. An officer sworn in on May 1st, 2023 would not be qualified to operate solo until August of 2024, due to the requirements of the state and department for training. The department dares not lower its standards for hiring, Snodgrass said — cutting corners only leads to more work, and doesn’t fix the holes in the ranks in the long run.

Nontrivial achievement

Cody Blodgett is one of the recent promotions, moving from detective to patrol sergeant.

He says the return to public-facing work, being out on the street, is a welcome change with earning his sergeant’s stripes.

“It feels really good to be back on the road, getting the chance to respond to calls, being back out in public,” Blodgett said in an interview. “It’s nice being back around the community.”

For Blodgett, the promotion is the culmination of months of testing and evaluation, and comes weighted with family pride.

“It feels great. My dad was a retired Hoquiam Police Department sergeant. I’ve been around this my whole life,” Blodgett said. “It has been good. It’s probably one of the biggest career accomplishments I’ve achieved.”

Blodgett joined the Hoquiam police in 2009, transferring to Aberdeen in 2016. He said earning his sergeant’s stripes is one more step forward in what he hopes will be a long and worthy service.

“I’ve always enjoyed being a leader,” Blodgett said. “It’s a big step with hopefully more to come for my career.”

Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.