La Grande police officers graduate academy, begin final training phase

Brad Garinger and James Kreamier completed the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training academy in Salem on Friday, June 19, advancing into the final stretch of La Grande police training. The graduation marked the end of a 16-week academy, but not the end of their preparation.

The La Grande Police Department said the pair now move into the next phase of a seven-month overall training process that still requires field training and evaluation before full certification. Oregon DPSST says basic training begins at the academy and continues with completion of the appropriate field training manual, a step that keeps new officers in supervised learning before they serve independently.

For La Grande, the milestone lands in a department that is already stretched across multiple public-safety duties. The city says LGPD has 19 sworn officers and 17 civilian employees, and its Operations Division includes one lieutenant, four patrol sergeants, 10 patrol officers, one detective sergeant, two detectives and one code enforcement officer. The department also provides dispatch services for all Union County public safety agencies.

That staffing picture gives added weight to two officers moving through the pipeline. State legislative materials say Oregon Basic Police classes are built for about 40 students and last 16 weeks, so each graduation represents a relatively small but important addition for local agencies trying to cover patrols, investigations and countywide call response.

The timing also matters for La Grande’s leadership. Garinger and Kreamier were sworn in by the department on Feb. 24, about four months before their academy graduation. Jason Hays became La Grande police chief effective Feb. 20 and was formally sworn in on March 4, placing the training milestone early in his tenure.

Hays has tied staffing needs to rising demand. He said the department handled 13,773 calls in 2021 and 14,456 calls in 2025. He also said calls involving drug overdoses were up 390% since 2020, houseless-person calls were up 231%, mental health crisis calls were up 123%, suicide-related calls were up 71%, trespass calls were up 50% and disturbance calls were up 13%.

For residents, the practical effect will come only after the two officers finish their remaining training and evaluation. Until then, the graduation signals that La Grande has moved two more officers closer to full duty in a department responsible for patrol coverage and dispatch across Union County.