After three months on the job, Ryan Rutland is no longer working as an officer for the Haines Borough Police Department.
Acting police chief Josh Dryden said Rutland’s departure was “amicable” and “nothing criminal.” Dryden noted Rutland had been working within his one-year probationary period.
Dryden declined to elaborate, saying it was a personnel issue.
Rutland said in an interview Wednesday he was let go on Nov. 30. “They kind of let me know unofficially ahead of time the week before, and then officially on Nov. 30,” he said.
“They need a little bit more experienced officers there. They don’t have time to train new recruits,” Rutland said. “I did my part and that was all that I could do. With the current changes that are going on, they need a little bit more help.”
According to borough code, “During the probationary period the individual demonstrates their ability and fitness to perform their job. During the probationary period, the employee is an at-will employee and can be disciplined, demoted, dismissed or separated from their position for any reason with or without just cause and without recourse to the grievance procedure.”
Rutland said his family enjoys living here and has no immediate plans to move from Haines.
Before coming to Haines and starting with the department in early September, Rutland worked as a gunsmith and firearms instructor for a year in Texas. Prior to that, he worked as an armed security officer in Colorado. He served in the U.S. Army between 2006 and 2011, and was based in Fort Carson, Colo.