The Bee Cave Police Department welcomed two new officers—a significant milestone as the department has been short three officers since the beginning of 2018. Mayor Pro Tem Bill Goodwin administered the oath of office to officers Mariko Katayama and Edward Castro at Bee Cave’s Dec. 11 City Council meeting.

Police Chief Gary Miller said that although BCPD still has one position to fill before the department is fully staffed, the two new officers are a much-needed addition.

“What it really means is that we will be working with each shift at close to a full staff without having to spend any overtime hours, which we’ve done in the past to help cover the busier times and days when we were short people,” Miller said. “That’s the big savings. Officers work a 12-hour day, so it’s good to have some time off and some hours off. You can’t work them all the time.”

Miller said Katayama and Castro are still in field training and will be for a number of months. They will be riding with another officer, but there is some value to having two officers in the same car, and even more so in the evening and early morning hours when more arrests are made, he said.

Miller added that BCPD has posted the position for the final officer needed but has so far not received any applications.

“Hopefully come January we’ll get some applications,” Miller said.

Katayama is a recent graduate of the Capital Area Council of Governments Basic Law Enforcement Academy, and Castro is from Odessa and is a recent graduate of the Concho Valley Council of Governments Basic Law Enforcement Academy in San Angelo.