FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka 2-for-1 Officers Share Job, Long Commute

New Sitka Police Department officers Hal Henning, left, and Mark Chandler, right, stand outside the police station at the start of their shifts. The men have a three-year contract with the SPD to work on an alternating two weeks on, two weeks off schedule. (Sentinel Photos by James Poulson)

 

By SHANNON HAUGLAND

Sentinel Staff Writer

Two new officers joined the Sitka Police Department this summer at the same time - but they rarely see each other, never work together and spend their time off at homes in the Lower 48.

“It’s part of the overall goal for retention,” said SPD Chief Robert Baty, discussing the two weeks on, two weeks off schedule of Hal Henning and Mark Chandler, two former Sand Point police officers with decades of experience behind them.

“Instead of this being a training ground where people come in for a year, get their certification and move on, I reached out to more experienced officers who may have a background in community policing,” Baty said. “With two weeks on, two weeks off, we’re able to attract people who like the flexibility of working here while also living somewhere else.”

Both men have signed three-year contracts with the department, and will work opposite shifts.

Henning, 54, the former police chief of Sand Point, will work in Sitka two weeks straight in 12-hour shifts, and return to his home in Pateros, Washington, where his wife works as a registered nurse. Henning will trade the two weeks on, two weeks off schedule with former Sand Point officer Mark Chandler.

Chandler, 41, works the same schedule in opposite weeks, then returns home to Dallas, Texas, to spend his two weeks off with his  wife, and their 11-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter.

Before signing his contract in Sitka, Henning was Sand Point’s police chief. With the Sitka position, he is returning to a job he also enjoyed in his earlier years, as a patrol officer.

“I’m a team player, and I think Chief Baty was looking for people with experience,” Henning said. “I really believe in Police Chief Baty’s mission for the department - I believe he envisions a community-oriented police department, with transparency and a commitment to community service. ... I’m looking forward to getting back to my roots of doing old-school patrol.”

Henning was born and raised in Minnesota, and started his law enforcement career as a military police officer in the U.S. Army. After he finished serving, he entered civilian law enforcement in St. Paul Island in 1989.

He has also worked as an officer for the Gilbert, Minnesota, police department (2006-2014) and as a deputy sheriff in Teton and Sweet Grass counties, Montana (2001-2006). He moved back to Alaska in 2014, when his wife took a job as a registered nurse in Kotzebue, where Henning was a major crimes investigator for two years. Henning’s Alaskan experience also includes one year as chief of Seldovia Police Department, when he was hired as police chief of Sand Point in 2017, to rebuild the department after a period of high turnover, he said.

During his time as chief in the Aleutians, Henning said, he talked to Baty about the difficulty in keeping newly trained officers. In Sand Point, where turnover was also a problem, Henning tried out a model of bringing in officers for two weeks at a time from outside, and hadn’t had any turnover for three years.

“I talked about it, and Chief Baty was open to giving it a trial run,” Henning said.

Henning also talked to Chandler, a fellow military officer he recruited for Sand Point, about working in Sitka. The two will alternate shifts, two weeks on, two weeks off. During Chandler’s time off, he will return to his home in Texas.

“Mark and I have been friends for 20 years,” Henning said. The two were fellow K-9 officers for separate organizations in Montana.

Chandler was born in Japan. As the son of a U.S. Air Force member, he grew up “all over,” including in Nevada, Panama, Germany, the Netherlands and Montana. Chandler has served as a military police officer in the U.S. Air Force, in Great Falls, Montana (1997-2010), and Colorado Springs (2010-2018), where his last assignment was in K9 patrol and investigations at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

After he retired from the military in 2018, Chandler and his family moved to Texas to be closer to family, then took the two-week on, two-week off job in Sand Point. After finishing his contract there, he signed on in Sitka, this summer.

“It’s been going good, I really enjoy it, I really like the area,” he said. “The department so far has been great. Chief Baty has done a good job selecting the right people, and everyone seems to get along with everybody.”

Chandler said Sand Point police had a “community driven” philosophy, where officers did have time to be part of the community; and he hopes to do the same here. He has so far gotten positive feedback from community members about changes that have taken place since Baty’s arrival a few years ago, he said.

“They see a difference in the way they’re treated,” Chandler said. “If it were just a job, I wouldn’t want to be part of that. I like the direction the department seems to be moving ... It’s been pretty positive.”

Baty said trying the two weeks on, two off, model was worth a try, given the problems of high turnover in the Sitka department. He required both officers to sign three-year contracts.

But Baty said it’s a trade-off. Among the challenges are shifts that are longer than normal, and two straight weeks of work, without a day off. 

“The guys I talked to seem to balance it pretty well,” Baty said. “To be competitive we have to look at alternative methods of recruitment and retention. By having this flexibility, we are able to recruit people other than beginning officers. ... In this case, we have people that have great Alaska experience, and prior law enforcement experience elsewhere. They can hit the ground running.”

“It gives the police department another avenue to hire qualified officers,” Chandler said.

On a question of whether not living in Sitka is another “downside,” Henning said the two are renting a home here, spending money here and trying to make a difference.

“I’m really happy to be there, enjoying my time, meeting people and serving the community,” Henning said.

 

Henning finished his two weeks and returned to Washington state October 12, a day after Chandler arrived for his shift.

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!