Former Haines Police officer Adam Patterson,47, is rejoining the department this November.
Patterson worked for the police department from 2012 through 2015, left in good standing and was recommended for re-hire, police chief Heath Scott said.
Patterson was one of nine applicants. Scott and a hiring committee chose another applicant who turned down the job before Patterson applied late in the hiring stage.
Patterson worked for Chilkat Guides in Skagway and Haines and started his own ATV tour guide business before attending the police academy in Fairbanks.
Patterson said he’s worked for two larger departments in Indiana, his home state, since leaving Haines and is glad to come back to a small community to engage in community policing.
“Haines is wonderful,” Patterson said. “I went through two bigger departments down in Indiana and I didn’t enjoy the bigger city running and gunning police departments. I’m just excited to come back and serve the community again.”
He said he’s been reading up on local news and politics and said it seems like the town is running smoother than when he left it.
“It seems like they’ve made some good changes and interesting changes,” Patterson said. “I’ve heard there’s a lot more businesses open. It seems like the town’s running better. It was feeling like a ghost town a few years back. Main Street was looking pretty bleak for a while.”
Patterson will head back to town in November. The addition of a fourth police officer comes after the Haines Borough Assembly approved an increase to the police budget for this fiscal year.
Patterson will only need to conduct a two-and-a-half-week course to become re-certified in Alaska.