Introducing University Place's New Police Investigator

Name: Doug Shook

Age: 38 

Position: Investigator, University Place Police

Been with the department since: 2005

Today is Shook's first day as the first investigator for UP Police.

It's basically an officer who focuses on investigations who isn't called out on routine patrols. It's a position that city officials felt was important enough to include in this year's budget.

Last year, UP saw a period of increased property crimes, which authorities chalked up partially to recent budget cuts to law enforcement. So, the University Place City Council included money in its budget for the position.

The hiring - which covers a contracted investigator's salary, vehicle, training, IT needs and other costs — is running the city an estimated $130,000 this year, and $145,000 the following year.

According to officials, they say Shook is worth the money. He has worked all three shifts as a patrol officer, and was even the department's school resource officer.

He says he'll be able to investigate stuff that might be overlooked if University Place Police forwarded the cases to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office. For example, on Tuesday, he was looking into a potential fraud case that was worth a few hundred dollars. Nothing significant in downtown Tacoma, but pretty important stuff in UP.

Also, he says his experience working with University Place Schools is a plus.

"It was a big help," he says. "A lot of the younger folks know me, and this being UP, an investigation could start there."