A new officer is beginning his law enforcement career with the Crawfordsville Police Department.
Judson Grubbs was sworn into duty in a ceremony following Wednesday’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting at the City Building. The 22-year-old Pittsboro native said he was drawn to a small-town atmosphere in deciding to wear Crawfordsville’s badge.
“I feel like I’ll be able to mingle or intertwine with the people in the community a lot better,” Grubbs said.
Grubbs is a graduate of Tri-West High School. His father, Jason, is a pastor at Mount Tabor Baptist Church in Boone County and his brother works at the Hendricks County Jail.
The new addition brings the department to a full staff with 41 officers. Chief Aaron Mattingly praised Grubbs’ youth and enthusiasm.
“Just his drive to be the best officer he can be is just nice to have with younger officers,” Mattingly said.
Grubbs will begin training with the department before going to the police academy, Mattingly added.
In other business, the Board of Public Works and Safety voted to postpone opening bids for the removal of the Sugar Creek low-head dam for one week due to weather-related delays in submitting proposals.
The city expects to receive at least five bids, operations director Dale Petrie said. Crawfordsville received matching funds from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources for the project.
The dam, which sits outside the former Crawfordsville Electric Light & Power plant, once pooled cooling water for the plant but has long posed a hazard for canoeists, who can get trapped in the dam’s current.
Board member Erin Corbin asked whether removing the dam would significantly change the creek’s landscape.
“The creek’s going to be much shallower above the dam, other than that really it’s not going to look that much different,” Petrie said.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Grubbs' first name.
