Miller sworn in as police chief
Jacob Miller (right), Humboldt’s new chief of police, was sworn in at the city council meeting on Monday night, Nov. 21. Humboldt City Clerk Amy Zeman presided over the ceremony. He was then presented with his badge. He began his duties immediately. Independent photo.
By PHIL MONSON
Jacob Miller, new chief of police for the city of Humboldt, was introduced at the Humboldt City Council meeting on Monday night, Nov. 18, and sworn in by city clerk Amy Zeman.
Miller takes over the reins after the retirement of Joel Sanders earlier this month. Miller, who has been chief at Albia, introduced his wife, Jannay, and baby daughter Eleanor.
Travis Ouverson of Edgar Public Safety and Healthcare Solutions of West Des Moines, who has served as interim police administrator over the last three weeks, provided an update to the council.
“We are really pleased with the selection of the new police chief. We are convinced he is going to be an outstanding chief for this community,” Ouverson said. “We have every confidence you will find that he will serve this community well and get the department back up to speed as soon as possible.”
“I’ve been in this position since Nov. 1 and I’ve been working on-site two days a week and off-site with the chief’s computer monitoring activity and being responsive 24/7 for the remainder,” Ouverson said. “During this period it has been relatively quiet police department-wise.”
“We had one officer resign (Dave Jones) right off the bat from the department who went to the Sheriff’s department, so that put us down to just two sworn officers on staff out on patrol. Then one of those officers did have a medical situation, which took him out of the loop for five days, which took us down to just one (Amber Williams),” Ouverson said.
“Through a very super effort on her part and a very high degree of cooperation with the county sheriff’s department, we covered the city and made sure that calls for service were taken care of and nobody was in danger or jeopardy,” Ouverson said.
“Throughout this period, we had great cooperation and help from the sheriff’s office. They touch base with me every day when I am up here,” Ouverson said. “If there have been any concerns, they’ve contacted me on the phone.”
“I’ve been in contact with the officers on a daily basis and have been able to monitor activity, which has been very little, which has been a blessing,” Ouverson said.
Ouverson praised officer Williams for her work. She has worked extensively with Ouverson’s colleague, Cam Coppess.
“Cam has been working on the property room and getting all of that organized. It has been put by the wayside for up to 15 years, actually, digging through and finding stuff there. We’re getting it all put together so it is organized. We’ve been getting the data entered into a computer system. Officer Williams is the property officer. She’s taking care of that and is very adept at that,” Ouverson said.
“Department-wise, other than needing staff, there’s no red flags. It’s a great department that is organized well and equipped well,” Ouverson said.
“I certainly feel that we made the right choice in hiring your consulting firm in the interim. We thank you for the support and leadership you and Cam and David Edgar provided during this time,” Humboldt Mayor Dan Scholl said. “I think we have a good working relationship moving forward.”
“It’s been an absolute pleasure working with the leadership of this city. This governing body here has been awesome to work with. This has been a very great experience for us,” said Ouverson, who was assistant police chief in West Des Moines before retiring to become part of the consulting firm.
Read the full story in this week's issue of the Humboldt Independent.
