The Anacortes Police Department recently promoted one of its officers and hired a new recruit.

Detective Sgt. John Small was promoted to captain and will start in the position Sept. 1. He takes over the position vacated when Bonnie Bowers was promoted to chief.

Small said he applied because he has a lot of respect for Bowers and wants to help shape the department.

As captain, “you help direct the department,” he said.

Bowers said Small is a good fit for the position because of his excellent communication skills. He has the trust of the department and has an incredible work ethic, she said.

“He’s very mission-focused and so am I. I like to look at the big picture and see how we can meet our goals,” she said.

There were seven applications for the position and four candidates were interviewed, including three internal candidates.

“It would have been an easy decision if I had bad candidates, but I had really good candidates,” Bowers said.

Small will finish his case-load as detective before moving to the new position. As captain, Small will supervise the department’s crime prevention area, the detective division and the records division.

With his promotion, a sergeant position is available. Bowers said there are six patrol officers eligible for the position and one will be promoted in September.

That leaves three patrol openings in the department.

“We’ve been recruiting like crazy,” Bowers said.

Last week, the department hired Travis Dotzauer, an Anacortes resident who is currently a community corrections officer for the state of Washington. He will start work on Oct. 1.

Bowers said she hopes to have the two other positions filled soon.