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Redmond’s Police Chief Takes Job In Olympia, Washington

The Redmond Police Chief is moving on to take the top police spot in Olympia, Washington. Starting in January, Chief Ron Roberts will supervise about twice as many people and move to a city with more than double the population of Redmond.   He plans to help with a smooth transition for his replacement and admits that keeping a community safe is especially challenging right now because of stretched budgets. "This year we're really starting to see the impact of the economy on crime. A lot of property crimes, assaults, some of those behaviors you'd think would be reflective of poor economic conditions are really starting to show themselves and so this is a real challenge because when you don't have enough resources that problem can get worse." As far as challenges in the new job, Olympia has a history of protests that have sometimes turned violent; a very different environment than Redmond. Roberts is proud that he's been he's been able to build a strong foundation of community policing in Redmond.  He says his journey north is bittersweet, because he's loved living and working in Redmond. He has a home in Central Oregon, so he still plans to "play" here.

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