News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Officer Russ Anderson stands next to an Alpena Police vehicle at the Alpena Police Department on Thursday.

ALPENA — On Feb. 3, Russ Anderson was sworn in as the newest addition to the Alpena Police Department team, according to a City of Alpena Facebook post.

With the addition of Anderson to the department, it is fully staffed at 19 officers, said Alpena Police Chief Eric Hamp.

The consideration for the 19 figure includes primarily whether there are enough officers to handle calls for service on a daily basis. The department also needs officers in specialty positions to handle more in-depth investigations. Other officers are involved in the Huron Undercover Narcotics Team to battle the drug crisis.

“It’s been quite a few years since we’ve been fully staffed,” Hamp said.

One reason the department has not been fully staffed is due to retirement. Many of the officers that Hamp worked with when he started at the department 21 years ago had just 10 to 15 years left until they were able to retire.

Other factors that affect staffing include policy decisions and national events like the death of George Floyd in 2020.

The events surrounding George Floyd’s death gave people a negative impression of law enforcement, which impacted the number of people willing to enter the field.

“We went from having literally hundreds of applications for one job to a handful of applications for one job,” Hamp said. “So it cycles through. I’ve been here long enough where I’ve seen good times, bad times, good times.”

Hamp said the department is beginning to see better numbers of applications, partially due to grant money they have received from the state. The money allows law enforcement agencies to sponsor recruits to police academies.

With the grant money, the police department can pay for a recruit’s tuition and lodging and give them a wage on top of that.

Anderson was one of those sponsored recruits.

“He has some life experience,” Hamp said. “He has a family. And for an individual to say, ‘Oh, I’m just going to be gone for five months to the police academy and not bring in any wage and not have health insurance,’ it’s very hard for someone to do that.”

The grant has given the department an opportunity to sponsor more experienced recruits with families who cannot afford to stop earning money to attend a police academy. The APD has hired five officers through those grants, Hamp said.

Anderson was raised in a law enforcement family in California. His dad, two uncles, and his older brother were all police officers. He moved to Alpena to play hockey for the old Alpena IceDiggers. He also met his wife in Alpena.

When he first moved here, Anderson was employed at Dunham Sports where he started as an associate and worked his way up to general manager. He left there and worked at Omni Corporation in Alpena until he took the opportunity to become a police officer.

Outside of work, Anderson coaches hockey through the Alpena Junior Wildcats, which is the team his son plays hockey for. Anderson referees high school hockey through USA hockey. If he’s not at the rink, Anderson can be found cheering on his daughter at her softball and volleyball games.

“It was either law enforcement or hockey is what I always thought growing up, and here I am finally,” he said.

Anderson enjoys the fact that law enforcement always keeps him on his toes. He never knows what he will encounter from day to day. He also likes being involved in the community and building relationships with community members.

Hamp had nothing but good things to say about Anderson joining the team.

“I think he’s going to be a wonderful addition to our department and we couldn’t be happier to have him,” Hamp said.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.