The Haines Borough Police Department went for experience when adding two officers to the team this summer.
Recently hired officers John Havard and Jason Rettinger both had worked as police officers in Alaska.
Rettinger, 36, is a 1993 graduate of Haines High School who returned to the local department in August. He was employed as a Haines Police officer from 2002 to 2004.
“I’ve always wanted to do something to help people,” Rettinger said. “I was on the ambulance crew for a few years and the fire department for a few years, and I just really enjoy that aspect of work, of trying to make Haines a nicer place for my kids to live.”
He said leaving the department for a position as a truck driver “was just the right call at that time.”
Rettinger said his familiarity with Haines occasionally makes the job seem more difficult, “because sometimes people take it personally.”
“Most of the time, (familiarity is) good, because you know people and can have kind of an understanding of what they’re going through, so that makes it more personal, in a good way,” Rettinger said.
Police chief Gary Lowe introduced the other new officer, Havard, at a Haines Borough Assembly meeting in July.
“He’s a certified police officer in Alaska, has worked two years in Whittier and a year in St. Paul and 15 years in the Army,” Lowe said. “He is a firearms instructor and a field training officer, and we’re real excited that he’s here to join us.”
Lowe this week called Havard, 55, “a calming force” on the department.
Lowe said Havard and Rettinger’s time in Alaska eased their transition to the local force. Hiring applicants from the Lower 48 “works out in rare occasions, me being one of the exceptions,” as many of those job seekers would struggle with the isolation of Southeast Alaska, he said.