Those with the Sequim Police Department recently welcomed, or more accurately re-welcomed police officer Devin McBride into the department given he had worked previously as a reserve officer between 2008-2011.

McBride has been back with the City of Sequim Police Department since Dec. 3 and admits he’s pleased to be serving the community where he was both born and reared.

Before accepting the job offer in Sequim, McBride commuted to Port Townsend where he worked as a detective, but given the distance he was eager to pursue a position in his hometown.

Having traveled a fair amount as a young man, McBride never visited a place he liked more than the Sequim area to live, he said, and although content geographically, it wasn’t until McBride had a baby on the way and after beginning one career, but finding little room for growth, did he decide to pursue a career as a police officer.

Here, Sequim’s newest police officer shares how he became a policeman.

“So prior to becoming a police officer I was a master automotive technician and worked in the automotive field for more than 13 years. But, about 10 years into it I was unhappy.

I didn’t feel like there was any room to grow and no room to expand other than owning your own business, which is quite a leap.

At the time, my wife was pregnant with my son and I felt I needed a change in careers, so I actually sat down and made a list of the things that I wanted to do. I then started crossing things off the list that I either couldn’t do or we couldn’t do as a family or couldn’t afford.

I was too old to be astronaut and I couldn’t afford to go to medical school, so law enforcement was the top thing on my list that I wanted to do.

I actually didn’t get involved right away, but I went back to college for my criminal justice degree beforehand. I did a year of that and then I was accepted as a Sequim reserve in 2008 and took kind of a hiatus from college to go through the reserve academy and get out on the road for a little bit.

I was a reserve officer here, still working full time and had a brand new family. In 2009, I went back to college on top of that.

I got hired in Port Townsend in 2011, and I liked working there, but it was just too far of a drive. I liked all the guys that I worked with. There are some pretty exceptional people over there, but I was excited to take the position here.

I went Sequim High School so I know where everything is. I know faces, I know names. It’s really nice to be here … I am back in the community I grew up in.

One of the reasons I like Sequim so much is because as a department and police officer you are really appreciated here. To me there doesn’t seem to be an adversary relationship between the public and the police.

Overall, it’s just nice to be back. I enjoy working here and the people I work with. I like the community and the people in it.”

Everyone has a story and now they have a place to tell it. Verbatim is a first-person column that introduces you to your neighbors as they relate in their own words some of the difficult, humorous, moving or just plain fun moments in their lives. It’s all part of the Gazette’s commitment as your community newspaper. If you have a story for Verbatim, contact editor Michael Dashiell at editor@sequimgazette.com.