Police Chief Mike Fort will no longer be holding down the fort at the Battle Ground Police Department as he celebrated his retirement with a party on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
Fort has served the community of Battle Ground since 2018, coming from the Portland Police Bureau. He assumed the role of chief following the retirement of Bob Richardson in early 2020.
Fort’s tenure with the Battle Ground Police Department saw a lot of growth. Fort supported the department’s school resource officer (SRO) program, developed a traffic unit, increased detective capacity and implemented a drone program in an effort to expand the department’s technological footprint, during that time.
“I started to write down some accomplishments the other day, and I think there are quite a few,” Fort said at his retirement party. “I think the opportunities that the police department has had over the last few years have been tremendous.”
In terms of growth during Fort’s tenure, the Battle Ground Police Department is only one officer away from being deemed fully staffed, which it hasn’t been for the last 12-13 years, Fort added.
“So, to be fully staffed means we can do more things,” Fort said. “We can be more engaged. One of the biggest accomplishments is with our SRO program, you know. We expanded that to two (officers) instead of one. We’ve doubled our detective size. We now have the opportunity to investigate crimes more robustly.”
Internally, the staff and officers now have the ability to become instructors, giving them more opportunities within the department.
“I feel like we value [our staff] and give them opportunities to be a shaping part of the organization,” Fort said. “I’m thankful I got to be a part of this department. I’ll miss it.”
When Fort came to the Battle Ground Police Department six years ago, he recalled the community made him feel welcomed, and that feeling has remained.
“It’s a good community. The city, for the most part, they love the police, and we try to do our best to serve it, and to serve all the members of the community,” Fort said. “I’ll miss that. I’ll miss that opportunity.”
He said that Jan. 2 marked 32 years in law enforcement, and he hopes to spend the next 30 years seeing more of the world with his wife, Lisa.
“I expect to spend the next segment of 30 years or so doing the next thing, which is retirement and traveling, seeing the country and seeing the world and many things that I’ve put off for 30-something years,” Fort said.
Fort said he would like to visit Norway and revisit Germany and Austria, as his honeymoon was there.
“So Norway is high on the list right now and Scotland and Ireland, to go see all the castles and that stuff, but then also to tour the U.S., and there’s so many cool places in the United States to see,” Fort said.
