Jasper swears in three new officers

The City of Jasper gave the oath of office to three probationary police officers on Wednesday

The event culminated a day in which another officer was honored with an award for thwarting a multi-state identity theft ring. Officer Loya was given the United States Attorney’s Award by Josh Minkler, United States Attorney for Southern Indiana, for his work leading to multiple arrests in a multi-state credit card fraud case from December 2015.

At the Jasper Common Council meeting new officers Joshua Greener, Caleb Lindeman, and Michael Conrad were sworn-in with family members and JPD officers present.

Officer Greener brings three years of experience from the Henderson Police Department; Lindeman brings over three years of experience from the Ferdinand Police Department; and, Officer Conrad will be enrolled in the academy for full training.

One officer fills the position vacated by the death of Chief Michael Bennett and the subsequent change in command that occurred when Nathan Schmitt became chief and Aaron Persohn was named assistant. The second officer was included in the 2018 budget. The third was planned for with the potential Community Oriented Policing Services grant from the U.S. Department of Justice but when that grant was not awarded, the council agreed to fund the position with cigarette tax funds for 2018. That position will be included in the 2019 budget cycle.

The additional officer will allow the department to promote an officer to be a second detective to handle narcotics investigations.

Jasper Police Department expansion needed now in anticipation of city growth

The new hires involved an intensive process by Chief of Police Nathan Schmitt, Assistant Chief Aaron Persohn, Cale Knies, the Director of Personnel/Safety/Loss Control for the City of Jasper and the Board of Public Works & Safety which serves as the oversight board for JPD.