Corvallis Police Chief Jason Harvey has assumed his duties as the new chief of police since late December, and set goals for the future of the department heading into his second month.

Harvey plans to improve police facilities, focus on recruitment and retention and continue accreditation for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

CALEA is an international organization that awards accreditation to public safety agencies that adhere to their standards of best practice within law enforcement. According to Harvey, the Corvallis Police Department is the longest CALEA accredited law enforcement organization in the state of Oregon.

According to Harvey, his reasons for wanting to improve police facilities and focus on recruitment and retention is that recruitment has been challenging over the last several years, and the building that houses the Corvallis Police Department is in poor condition and running out of space. 

As the chief of police, Harvey oversees the operating budget and all of the divisions and work units of the police department, works with overall city issues and influences the culture and professionalism of the police department. 

Harvey is also responsible for being engaged with the community and is working on building connections and familiarity with the organizations and people that frequently interact with the police department.

“I’ve been taking every opportunity to learn new things, things I’m not familiar with, and to develop relationships in the community that maybe I hadn’t before,” Harvey said.

According to Harvey, more information will be available as time passes, as his first few weeks have been focused on learning about the various responsibilities of the job, including getting used to working with other city departments and the overall budget of the police department.

“I think that anytime you start a new job, learning new things or focusing on understanding something new can be viewed as a challenge. But it also can be viewed as a positive,” Harvey said.