City of North Bend release - Leadership transition also includes Jake Hult’s promotion to captain and Jerad Jaehnig’s promotion to sergeant as the department moves forward from a period of major reform, modernization and growth - NORTH BEND, Ore. — The City of North Bend announced Tuesday that Police Chief Cal Mitts is retiring after helping lead one of the most significant turnarounds in the recent history of the North Bend Police Department, leaving behind a fully staffed agency, a modernized fleet, expanded school and community policing programs, and a department positioned for continued growth. The city also announced that City Manager David Milliron has appointed Capt. Ed Perry as the next chief of police, promoted Sgt. Jason “Jake” Hult to captain and promoted School Resource Officer Jerad Jaehnig to sergeant. Mitts retires for a second time after coming out of retirement to help North Bend rebuild and strengthen its police department during a critical leadership transition. He joined North Bend’s command team in 2021 and was appointed chief effective April 21, 2023, after helping stabilize operations, restore morale and rebuild trust inside the department and across the community. “When Cal Mitts came to North Bend, he brought more than experience. He brought calm, credibility and a clear sense of purpose,” Milliron said. “He helped take a department that was in a defining moment and turn it into one that is fully staffed, technologically advanced, professionally respected and better prepared for the future. He leaves this city in a far better place than he found it, and that is the mark of exceptional leadership.” Under Mitts’ leadership, the North Bend Police Department was fundamentally overhauled. Early in his North Bend tenure, the command team transferred dispatch services to Coos North 911 to address critical staffing shortages and public safety concerns, a move that to saved taxpayers $723,400 through fiscal year 2025. The department modernized its computer-aided dispatch and records management systems, eliminated mandatory overtime through patrol-shift restructuring, created and expanded the Community Services Officer and Community Resource Officer functions, strengthened supervisory oversight, and implemented a top-down review of organizational strengths, weaknesses, staff development and succession planning. He then built on that foundation with measurable and sustained results. The department reached full staffing for the first time in more than a decade. During his tenure, it built a 100% new fleet, modernized its evidence and reporting systems, added cloud-based storage for body-worn and in-car video, deployed license plate readers, implemented new in-car Wi-Fi systems, upgraded Taser equipment, acquired handheld radar and LIDAR devices, deployed speed-detection and messaging trailers, and launched MyPDConnect so residents could report minor incidents online. These improvements have reduced administrative burden on officers, improved case-solving capability, and strengthened both officer and community safety. “Chief Mitts did not just maintain this department. He transformed it,” Milliron said. “He embraced new technology, strengthened accountability, implemented succession planning, expanded specialized policing capacity and built a culture of professionalism that will benefit this community for years to come.” Public safety outcomes improved as well. During Mitts’ tenure, the department reported major reductions in several crime categories, including burglary, robbery, stolen vehicles, unlawful entry into motor vehicles and overdose incidents, even as calls for service rose sharply. The department also documented continued declines in criminal trespass, theft, driving while suspended and overdose incidents, with robbery falling to zero. Mitts also expanded the department’s school and community policing role. During his tenure, North Bend worked with the school district to add a second school resource officer, with both positions funded by the district, and both officers later completed DARE instructor training. The department continued to invest in a full-time Community Resource Officer focused on homelessness and high-visibility public-order issues, as well as a Community Service Officer who handles non-sworn responsibilities and helps keep patrol officers available for core law enforcement work. Another signature achievement was the return of North Bend’s K-9 program. With broad community support, the department rebuilt its narcotics-detection capability, launched the new K-9 team and quickly put it to work in real investigations, including assistance multiple cases that led to the seizure of fentanyl and other drugs, cash and firearms. Beyond operations, Mitts became known for building unusually strong ties across city government, especially with the fire department, and for reinforcing a culture of teamwork. In retirement remarks this month, Mitts said, “This was a chapter that wasn’t supposed to be written,” and praised North Bend’s staff, saying the city is “blessed with some of the greatest staff in any city, regardless of size.” He also said “the camaraderie between all the department heads in this city is something else you just cannot find anywhere else” and called the North Bend Police Department “nothing short of exceptional.” “Chief Mitts led with integrity, steadiness and a genuine belief in people,” Milliron said. “He strengthened the bond between police and fire, between the department and the public, and between today’s officers and tomorrow’s leaders. That kind of leadership cannot be measured by one statistic alone. It is measured by the fact that this department is stronger, healthier and more trusted because he was here.” The city’s next chief brings deep institutional knowledge and a long record of service to North Bend. Perry joined the North Bend Police Department as a reserve officer in 2003 and became a full-time patrol officer in July 2011. Over the course of his career, he has served as a reserve police officer, reserve police sergeant, patrol officer, reserve officer program co-coordinator, reserve officer training academy instructor, school resource officer, sergeant and captain. He was appointed captain in April 2023. Perry’s appointment also carries special historical significance for North Bend. He follows in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Oliver E. Reeve, who also served as chief of police in North Bend before later leading the police departments in Prineville and La Grande. Reeve served with the North Bend Police Department for approximately eight years, first being hired as a police officer and helping grow the department to two sworn officers before serving as chief of police in 1939. His public safety career later included service as president of the Oregon Police Association and as an Oregon Liquor Commission inspector on the Southern Oregon Coast. “Ed Perry is the right leader at the right time,” Milliron said. “He knows this department, he has earned the respect of his peers, and he understands both the responsibility and the opportunity that come with this moment. He inherits a stronger department because of Chief Mitts’ work, and I am confident he will build on that foundation with professionalism, humility and vision.” Hult’s promotion to captain continues the department’s succession plan and leadership development efforts. Jaehnig’s promotion to sergeant reflects the department’s growing bench of trained, community-focused leaders. Together, the appointments signal both continuity and momentum for a department that has changed dramatically in recent years. “As we thank Chief Mitts for his service, we also celebrate the department he helped shape,” Milliron said. “North Bend is not starting over. It is moving forward.”