Petersburg police department has a newly remodeled station and now a full staff of police officers this winter with the swearing in of the third of three new faces on the local force. The newest officer is an Army veteran originally from Georgia.
Carl Tate is sworn in Monday by borough clerk Debbie Thompson with wife Hailey and PPD chief Kelly Swihart behind him.
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Borough clerk Debbie Thompson swore in new office Carl Tate during Monday’s assembly meeting. Tate is 24 years-old and moved here from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He’s originally from Georgia and his wife Hailey grew up in Petersburg.
Tate said he always wanted to be a police officer. “Before I joined the Army I tried actually becoming a police officer,” Tate said. “But I was young and didn’t know actually how to get into the career. Kinda put it on the back burner you could say.”
Tate spent four years in the Army specializing in communications. His visit in November applying for the position was his first time to Petersburg and he has since moved here with his wife and their two boys.
“Snow’s just not something you see down in Georgia very often so seeing all this my kids love it,” he said. “They’re playing in it. It’s pretty, really pretty here.”
The PPD has been trying to fill some vacant jobs for the better part of a year and the other officers have been working long shifts to fill in during that time. Police captain John Hamilton is happy to have a full staff again and speaks highly of the newest officer.
“He was an excellent applicant,” Hamilton said. “We really liked what we saw from him during the application process. I spent quite a bit of time talking to him on the phone and as well as with email. We feel pretty lucky to have gotten somebody of his caliber to be interested in our little town.”
Hamilton said it will take a few more months for training Tate and the two other officers recently hired.
