Jarvie confirmed as chief

Tom Jarvie can drop the word “interim” from his title.

The longtime Green River Police Department employee will officially head up the department, three months after he was appointed interim chief. 

“It’s exciting,” Jarvie said. “It’s an honor to serve my community.”

Jarvie’s selection was announced Tuesday night at the Green River City Council meeting. He will be officially sworn in as the city’s police chief during the Council meeting March 6.

City Administrator Reed Clevenger said one of the reasons Jarvie was hired was due to his leadership training through the FBI National Academy. 

“Tom’s proven history of leadership in both the patrol and investigations divisions, along with his vision for continued development of the GRPD, makes him the ideal candidate to fill the role of police chief,” Clevenger said in a press release sent Tuesday night. 

He said other reasons were due to Jarvie’s familiarity with Green River and the fact he has a lot of institutional memory at a time when senior members of the police department are retiring from duty. 

One of the pressing challenges facing the department is vacancies created through both retirement and attrition, which has included some of the department’s longest-serving members. The GRPD recently hosted a career fair in hopes of recruiting police officers into the GRPD, which Clevenger credited Jarvie for spearheading.

Clevenger said he’s also happy with Jarvie’s focus on succession planning within the department.

“We need some stability in the department,” Clevenger said. “We know some (GRPD staff) are looking at retirement.”

Jarvie replaced former chief Chris Steffen in November after Steffen decided to retire from the department. Steffen now works for the Muley Fanatics Foundation in Green River.