Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Officers Join Force
10 MAKE UP DEPARTMENT
PRAIRIE GROVE — Three new police officers have joined the full-time ranks of the Prairie Grove Police Department since the first of the year.
Prairie Grove has 10 officers, including Chief Carl Dorman. Other changes at the department include promoting Sgt. Chris Workman to captain and moving Jeff O’Brien from the school resource position to detective. The new officers are Chastity Mahan, Michael Palmer and John Williams.
Mahan, 37, started working part- time for Prairie Grove in 2012. She was hired as a full-time officer Feb. 12 and will attend the Northwest Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy from July 29-Oct. 18.
Mahan comes from a family of police officers and said an uncle inspired her to go into law enforcement.
She said she saw the positive influence he had on people around him.
“From a public servant standpoint, I just like everything about law enforcement,” Mahan said. “You have the possibility of making a positive influence in your community.”
Mahan graduated from the Univers i ty of Arkansas in 2011 with a bachelor’s deg re e in criminal justice. She also earned her paralegal certification from the UA.
She worked as a deputy for the Benton County Sheriff ’s Off ice for about a year before coming to Prairie Grove.
Mahan lives in Farmington but likes working in Prairie Grove.
She said the community has a “good balance” of historical preservation, along with progress.
“It’s a nice community and has a lot to offer as a community,” Mahan said.
Her husband works for the University of Arkansas Police Department. They have three children.
Palmer, 36, is a certified officer and started with Prairie Grove on March 1.
He’s been out of law enforcement for about seven years.
He previously worked for the police department in Hollis, Okla., and decided he wanted to live in a larger town. Hollis has a population of about 1,200.
“So I ran off and joined the Army,” he said.
He was in the Army for 4 1 ⁄
2 years as a truck driver and during that time was deployed twice, to Iraq and to Kuwait.
Palmer said he learned about the opening in Prairie Grove through Workman. When he came to Prairie Grove to apply for the job, he said he was impressed with the area.
“In southwest Oklahoma, it’s cotton fields. This is beautiful scenery and everyone seems to be really nice.”
He’s married with two daughters and said he is “excited to start this chapter of my life.”
Williams, 40, is a former police chief for the city of Elkins. He started fulltime with Prairie Grove on March 1 and has worked for the Johnson Police Department and for Elkins from 2004-2011. He was police chief for two years before leaving Elkins.
He’s been interested in working as a police officer since he was a young child, he said.
“I want to make a career out of it and then retire,” Williams said.
He likes working in a small town, adding, “I like the idea of a smaller department where everyone works closely together.”
Williams lives in Fayetteville but said he hopes to eventually move to Prairie Grove.
He is married and he and his wife will celebrate their 20th anniversary this year.
Dorman said because Williams and Palmer are already certified, they were able to go to work right away.
“I’ve known Williams for quite a while and he’s a competent officer,” Dorman said. “Palmer has shown himself to be able to pick it up pretty fast.”
Mahan also has shown herself to catch on quickly, Dorman said, adding he believes she will be an even better officer when she returns from the academy.