As a member of our Homeless Action Team, Officer Kompelien will bring invaluable experience during her 3-year term as she works with partners to help create and implement cost-effective solutions to ending homelessness. Congrats again, Officer Kompelien! Your dedication is an inspiration to all.

For Lt. Pehrson, Veterans Day is a chance to reflect on military service and how those who volunteered to fight shaped the course of our nation.

He credits his experience as a field team leader in the Marines for helping him develop the leadership skills he still uses as part of our command staff.

Lt. Pehrson also joined the Marine Corps right after high school and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He always knew that he was interested in becoming a police officer. After leaving the Marines, he was hired at MTPD as a CSO, finished his law enforcement schooling, and has been here ever since.

From there it was on to Hawaii, where he became a weapons instructor, training other soldiers on proper use of firearms. As a member of MTPD’s Training Unit, those are skills he continues to use to this day.

Lt. Keyes enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 17.

“I always joke that I was a recruiter’s dream because I just walked in and said, ‘sign me up,’” said Lt. Keyes.

After completing high school, it was off to Camp Lejune in North Carolina for boot camp, followed by a 2-year deployment in Japan.