Chief's Message

Whether you’re a La Grande resident or a visitor to our beautiful City, we thank you for allowing us to serve you as you enjoy all that our community has to offer.

It has been my honor and privilege to serve our community as a member of the La Grande Police Department since 1993. I was raised in La Grande, graduated from La Grande High School, attended Blue Mountain Community College and Eastern Oregon University and graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice Administration. I began my service to our community as a reserve police officer and was hired as a full-time officer in 1994. Over the course of my career I’ve served in many capacities, including; as a criminal detective, a field training officer, the drug task force supervisor, a sergeant, lieutenant, the regional SWAT team commander, and now as your Chief of Police.

The men and women of the La Grande Police Department care deeply for this community and the safety of those who live and visit here. We are personally invested and involved in the community in many ways ranging from volunteering with our youth to serving on non-profit boards. We enjoy tremendous support from you, as members of our community, and we appreciate it.

We hold ourselves to very high standards and we pride ourselves on maintaining excellent training, professional development and competency. We enjoy support and collaboration with many community partners and share our critical law enforcement mission with our friends, the Union County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police. As part of our jurisdiction, we are the proud providers of law enforcement services to Eastern Oregon University.

I am a strong believer in providing quality and ethical service to the community and I can assure you that philosophy is shared throughout our department. We consider it a privilege that you have entrusted us with the care of this community and we do not take this responsibility lightly.

All my best,

Chief Gary Bell