Gary Henley: Everyday People: Hanna becomes Astoria's newest police officer
Oct. 17—Officer Madyson Hanna has reported for duty with the Astoria Police Department.
She was sworn in at a City Council meeting this month and is in a field training process after serving three years as an officer in Warrenton.
Whether it's Astoria or Warrenton, when you're a cop in a small town — and you grew up in that same community — it can create some awkward on-the-job moments, such as pulling someone over or having to arrest a suspect only to find that it's an ex-classmate or someone you know.
It did not take Hanna long to get past that.
"I got over that bridge a long time ago in Warrenton," she said. "You have to lose that when you're walking up. I got past it, and it's not awkward for me. I'm used to it now. But at first it was a little weird."
Hanna graduated from Warrenton High School in 2013. Less than 10 years after graduation, she's where she wants to be, doing exactly what she had in mind.
"I decided I wanted to be a police officer when I was 15," she said. "I have a lot of family here, and growing up in Warrenton I saw my cousin's kids get taken away, and people on drugs and stuff like that. I thought I could prevent families from getting into the stuff that I saw.
"I still know a lot of people here, and I'm hoping that people are thinking, 'I know Mady and trust her.'"
After high school, Hanna's college studies focused on criminology and the criminal justice system.
"I felt that one day I would work here," she said. "After college, I knew I wanted to start in Warrenton, just because I wanted to start somewhere that I knew and was comfortable. But that was my goal all along, to be a police officer."
In her second year at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington, "they started a criminal justice program, so I took classes there, and I took a lot of criminal justice and criminology classes at Portland State. When I was at Warner Pacific for my fourth year of college, I was still enrolled at PSU, because Warner didn't have a criminal justice-specific program, until the year I was leaving."
What does Hanna like about being a police officer? The same thing most cops like about the job.
"Every day is different. It's never the same thing," she said. "I have my duty bag and stuff I keep in the car, so everything's in the car and ready to go."
A decade ago, Hanna was known to locals more for her athletic accomplishments. She was a three-sport standout in volleyball, basketball and softball at Warrenton.
In softball, Hanna still holds the school record for highest career batting average (.585), and is second in single season runs batted in (26 in 2013).
Hanna finished with 974 career points in basketball, still sixth in school history.
Even though she was an all-state infielder in softball, Hanna ended up playing basketball at Lower Columbia. Unfortunately, injuries started stacking up.
As a guard for Lower Columbia and then Warner Pacific in Portland, Hanna tore knee ligaments, and, in a more serious injury, fractured her tibia and fibula.
She still feels the knee pain.
"Most of the physical training (to become a police officer) is right when you get hired," Hanna said.
Officer candidates "have to do an obstacle course, the ORPAT (Oregon Physical Abilities Test). That's one of the most physical things you have to do.
"At the academy, you have PT (physical training) three days a week. They would put weighted vests on you that were ungodly weighted, definitely more than what we wear on the job.
"After the academy, you're kind of on your own on keeping yourself fit," said Hanna, who recently competed in a local police versus U.S. Coast Guard softball game. "My knees hurt every once in a while. I have the screws in there, so when it gets cold you can feel it. But other than that, it doesn't restrict me too much."
