News brief: Formal changes coming for top officers at Centralia Police Department

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two sergeants at the Centralia Police Department will be promoted to commander positions effective Jan. 1.

They are Sgt. Stacy Denham and detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald, who have been working as acting commanders since the chief demoted the two officers who were commanders when he took over the department in May.

Centralia Police Chief Carl Nielsen said testing was done last week for the positions. His announcement of the change is on the agenda this evening for the Civil Service Commission meeting, Nielsen said.

Former Cmdr. Dave Ross was reassigned to a sergeant position on June 1 and Cmdr. Jim Rich moved to a sergeant position on July 2. Rich was, along with Nielsen, one of the finalist to replace outgoing Chief Bob Berg earlier this year.

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12 Responses to “News brief: Formal changes coming for top officers at Centralia Police Department”

  1. steve says:

    Well said Troy!

  2. steve says:

    Evergreen? Haha, NOT! Brainwasher my point is Bo Rupert is a complete idiot and a criminal therefore his hypes against our police force is insulting and ridiculous.

  3. CrazyOldMan says:

    Although I don’t think private enterprise prisons are a good idea, the cops don’t have to go out of their way to fill the jails and prisons.

    Between poverty, drugs, broken families, the decline in morality and decency, and the exodus of jobs from the United States to the third world we’ve produced a growing underclass. This underclass is disproportionally drug addicted and criminal.

    It’s not a conspiracy that the law enforcement, judiciary, lawyers, jail, and all of the peripheral “services” are the biggest business in Lewis County – It’s a cultural phenomenon.

    Kudos to FBI director James Comey for speaking the truth about the “Ferguson Effect” to the consternation of the politically correct Obama Administration.

    I think that the trend to make the police a paramilitary occupational force has led to the attitudes which have produced police brutality and unwarranted killings. I think that culture needs to be changed. But I do also believe in the thin blue line to keep the zombies at bay. It’s a balance between civil rights and protection of the citizenry. It’s tough being a cop today and I’m not sure that many people would want the job.

  4. brainwasher says:

    steve youre a out of control liberal. have fun calling people names. Your claims are baseless. Go back to evergreen.

  5. steve says:

    brainwasher your idiot name says it all. You STFU too, Rupert is a discrace, a moron, and a convicted felon. Perhaps you are too, funny thing about public knowledge. Perhaps you should turn off your internet and do some good for your community rather than talking sh+t. Our police force is doing the best it can with what it has such as minimal staffing, perhaps Syria would be a good home for you and Bo.

  6. Troy N. Houghtaling Sr says:

    brainwasher maybe you so know how Rupert works. If he does not like you he will harass you. But if you harass him he will take you to court to get a harassment order so he can continue to do his little games. Maybe we should talk about how he likes to file false charges on people. He now has a warrant for him for just that out of Chehalis that is why he is on the run again. He filed 5 false reports on me and was convicted. Rupert has nothing to talk about a police officer. Any thing he has every done in the law he has deserved. Believe me he does not speak for the community at all he speaks for himself and that is not much. Remember if he does not like the way things are done here he can move to another country. I am not saying all things are right here but Rupert does not speak for me and properly around another 100,000 people also. Maybe people should let us know if Rupert speaks for them.

  7. brainwasher says:

    Disgrace? Steve you speak for the community? Hes the only one willing to put his real name out there for what he believes. Do some research on the propagation of the prison for profit industry. Look at the statistics compared to other industrialized nations. Police rove around looking for excuses to infringe on your rights to fill prison quotas. Enough is enough. This is about quality control not bashing good cops. Once your charged it will take a bank roll just to get decent lawyer to take your case. They take court fees even if you win your case. You cant win by fighting the system at its own game. Why be fearful or embarrassed by community views when the public at large is grossly uninformed and ignorant?

  8. steve says:

    STFU BO RUPERT! You are a disgrace to this community and no one cares to see your insults towards cops, so STFU!

  9. Police advisor says:

    Dash cameras and body cameras.. the web is full of dirt bag cops. We need protection from police thugs. Yeah Denham has always been good to me……

  10. Troy N. Houghtaling Sr says:

    Congrats to Sgt. Stacy Denham for moving ahead as a Centralia Police Officer. He has worked hard at his job for years. He is a officer that will listen to the facts before making a decision on case. It is sad that one that has a warrant for his arrest can judge a person for what he does for a job. Sgt. Stacy Denham has never filed a false report on a person just to get a promotion or attention. Maybe Sgt. Stacy Denham has a good chance at being our next police chief in the future. GOT MY SUPPORT.

  11. some dude says:

    I thought it said FORMAL CHARGES not FORMAL CHANGES. Got my hopes up for minute.

  12. Bo Rupert says:

    Wow, I am so disgusted they would even give Stacy Denham a toy pistol let alone a make him second in command of Centralia Pd. I will say though I am proud Chief Nielsen is trying to make changes to fix the department simply doing a few small demotions isnt the answer either. If he wants to clean up the department he is going to have to send a few people packing. I won’t name any one to start with as there are a lot of possibilities.