OPD officers promoted

The Olney Police Department promoted four officers to senior status, and named Dustin Hudson the second-in-command to Chief Dan Birbeck. Detective Hudson was promoted to Sergeant in charge of the Criminal Investigations Division. With the new promotion, Sgt. Hudson becomes a crew supervisor. “He can stand in whenever I am not in town or unavailable,” Chief Birbeck said. On those occasions, “Dustin will be in charge of the police department,” he said. Officers Miranda Wright, Joe Logan and Simon Dwyer were promoted to the rank of corporal, a senior police officer position. “They bring a lot of skills and years of service to the table and this is a way of showing appreciation and giving them some credit for the years of service that they have put in and also makes them senior officers,” Chief Birbeck said. The promotions come with small pay increases, Chief Birbeck said. State lawmakers are considering legislation that would boost the pay for rural police departments to help with retention. “Based on the bill that I saw and read about, we would qualify for that,” Chief Birbeck said. “And if that does pass, we will apply for that and that additional funding will go for every employee that is eligible to receive it.”