By Per Peterson
The City of Tracy has taken a major step forward in rebuilding its police squad.
Tracy Police Chief Jason Lichty on Friday said two officers, both with family connections to Tracy, were offered positions. However, one has since told Lichty he is no longer interested. If the other candidate is hired, it would bring to three the number of officers on staff.
The names of the officers, both in their 20s, have not been released since they have not yet officially been hired; the remaining candidate still has to pass further tests and complete training.
The City’s police force currently consists of Lichty and Adam Hansen. Lyon County Deputy Dusty Demuth was recently brought in on a temporary basis while Lichty was on vacation.
“I’ve been switching from days and nights during the week, doing 12 days on, two days off, five days on, two days off and covering both day and night shift some days,” Lichty said. “Hansen has been covering weekends on his own. He’s acquired some overtime.”
The Tracy Police Department has two badge numbers open — one full-time and one part-time. The remaining candidate still has to graduate from college and pass a post-exam the first week of June. He also has to pass a background check, be fingerprinted by the FBI and have his license activated. He then has to complete field training.
“Out of the nine potential people that could’ve shown up (for testing) three showed up, and out of the three, we found two good candidates,” Lichty said. “One who didn’t interview very well initially was invited back to interview again — that was our fourth candidate, and he ended up being one of our hires.”