Police Chief Hamner tenders resignation from Bainbridge department

By Brian Kelly • January 14, 2019 10:00 am
Bainbridge Police Chief Matthew Hamner gets briefed by a Bainbridge police officer at the scene of a death investigation late last year. (Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review)
Bainbridge Police Chief Matthew Hamner gets briefed by a Bainbridge police officer at the scene of a death investigation late last year. (Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review)

Bainbridge Island Police Chief Matthew Hamner needed just three sentences to end one chapter of his life and begin another.

Hamner resigned from his post Thursday, Jan. 10.

In his official resignation letter to City Manager Morgan Smith, he said:

“I am resigning as Chief of Police of the BIPD. I am very humbled, grateful, blessed and honored to have served this amazing city and community. My last day will be February 15, 2019.”

Hamner’s departure announcement was expected, as the city council in Banning, California, approved a three-year employment agreement with Hamner Jan. 8.

Bainbridge’s departing chief is following Doug Schulze, the island’s previous city manager, to Banning.

Schulze quit in early August to take over as city manager in Banning, a city of roughly 30,000 in Riverside County, Calif.

Hamner, however, had been expected to stay on Bainbridge. He signed a new employment contract with the city, with a base salary set at $170,000, seven months ago.

At Schulze’s request, Hamner interviewed for the Banning police chief job in November. At the Banning City Council meeting last week, the council approved a controversial employment contract for Hamner with a base salary set at $190,857 a year.

Following the receipt of Hamner’s resignation letter, Bainbridge city officials said a nationwide search will be conducted to find a replacement.

Deputy Chief Jeff Horn will take over as interim chief after Hamner’s last day with the Bainbridge force.

Horn will stay on as interim chief until a new one is hired, according to the city.

Hamner has been the city’s top cop for more than five years. He joined the Bainbridge department in June 2013, and city officials said his time at the helm was marked by accomplishments that included completing the department’s state accreditation process and an expanded emphasis on training and professional development for police officers.

“Chief Hamner has helped our police department achieve a new level of professionalism, while also enhancing the department’s connection with the community, and that is an important legacy that we will continue to build on,” Smith said in a statement. “I am appreciative of his contributions during his time with the city of Bainbridge Island and I wish him success in his future work.”

Horn was hired as second-in-command of the Bainbridge Island Police Department by Hamner — who worked alongside Horn for 20 years at the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department — in 2014.

Horn graduated from the Indianapolis Police Department’s Training Academy in February 1995, and has been a patrol officer, neighborhood resource officer, field training officer, accident investigator, sex crimes detective, sex crimes detective sergeant, field supervisor, training instructor and training supervisor.