Pinehurst PD gets their guy

PINEHURST — Last week, the city of Pinehurst found out who their next Chief of Police would be after Mayor Bob Jutila made his decision.

Initially receiving 16 applications, ranging from local residents all the way to out-of-staters who were willing to relocate, Jutila decided to stay local when he named John Richter as his choice to replace current Chief Tami Holdahl as the head of the Pinehurst Police Department.

Richter is currently serving as a deputy for the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office and will be coming to PPD with more than a decade of law enforcement experience, as well as 20-plus years in the United States Navy.

Working for the SCSO requires Richter to potentially handle coverage across Shoshone County’s 2,600 square miles, so he is excited for the opportunity to really narrow his focus and return to a city that he is familiar with.

“I had worked in Pinehurst before when the county had the contract, I know a lot of the people who live in town and thought that it would be a good fit,” Richter said. “I’ve always wanted to do community policing and that’s what I have tried to do. When you get down into a city you can focus more on the people, have more of an effect on the kids, the families, the schools. You can get more involved basically and that’s what I’m planning to do.”

Richter will officially be sworn prior to any police work that he does under the authority of the PPD. Much of that early work will consist of shadowing Chief Holdahl in order to get a feel for the day to day operations associated with heading a department.

No grandiose plans are on the horizon for Richter and PPD, however he does plan on increasing the number of officers working alongside him by adding a third certified officer.

“There’s an opening and the citizens really deserve it. The county does a fantastic job assisting in their coverage, but having one more law enforcement officer in the Silver Valley — regardless of location, is a good thing.”

The Pinehurst City Council will ceremonially swear-in Chief Richter during its regularly scheduled June 8 meeting at 6 p.m. in city hall, located at 6 N. Division St., Pinehurst.

Mayor Bob Jutila did not respond to the News-Press for comment.