Mayor wants police chief for Humboldt
Humboldt County Sheriff and Police Administrator Dean Kruger (center) talks to students at the Humboldt Middle School during Back the Blue Day at the school last week. Pictured at left is Humboldt Police Officer Nick Nolting. Humboldt Independent photo.
By Kent Thompson
Humboldt Mayor Dan Scholl said he favors the city hiring its own police chief.
It is not certain if his view is shared by members of the Humboldt City Council, but the group agreed to investigate the matter further, prior to the upcoming budget discussions for fiscal year 2017-18.
“I feel that under the current circumstances…with the additional duties and responsibilities placed on the sheriff, and the fact that we have a city department run by a county official, I think it’s important to have that discussion (of hiring our own police chief),” Scholl said.
“I believe it is important to have an individual who is responsible solely to the city and not have divided work interests,” the Humboldt mayor said.
Humboldt County Sheriff Dean Kruger has served as Humboldt's police administrator for the past seven years (in February 2017). Kruger said he felt the relationship between the sheriff’s department and the Humboldt Police Department has “never been better.” He described his rapport with the police department as “great.”
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