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ASHLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT Former Ashland baseball teammates join APD Hegdahl, Westhelle-Grant going through police academy together in Salem Comment By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports Posted Jan. 7, 2016 at 6:23 PM Updated Jan 7, 2016 at 6:24 PM By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports Posted Jan. 7, 2016 at 6:23 PM Updated Jan 7, 2016 at 6:24 PM » Social News A long time ago (but not that long), before they played on the same Ashland High School baseball team that made it all the way to the OSAA Class 5A state championship game in 2010 and the same American Legion A team that won a regional championship two months later, before all the Little League car washes and even before they marched through the Plaza during the Fourth of July parade decked out in brand new red-white-and-baby blue uniforms, Brent Hegdahl and Evan Westhelle-Grant were just two Ashland boys playing catch in the backyard with their dads. Like scores of boys whose baseball seasons annually spill over into July and beyond, Hegdahl and Westhelle-Grant aspired to play the game they loved for as long as possible. For Hegdahl, that meant a short stint at Oregon Tech; for Westhelle-Grant, his playing days ended with the Medford Mustangs following his senior year of high school. Now, the two former baseball teammates are working together again in Ashland, though the next time one covers for the other the stakes will likely be much higher than a play at the plate. That’s because Hegdahl, 23, and Westhelle-Grant, 21, will soon be patrolling the streets they’ve known since their childhoods as the newest members of the Ashland Police Department. Hegdahl was sworn in Nov. 6 and Westhelle-Grant Nov. 9, and both are currently being trained for their new job at the Police Academy in Salem, after which they’ll return to Ashland to begin a career each has targeted for years. “It’s cool, growing up together and playing ball together, and we both had this dream of wanting to be police officers and wanting specifically to be police officers in our hometown,” Hegdahl said. “That’s something we’ll share for our whole careers, that we grew up playing ball together in high school and now we’re working and doing the same line of work in the town that we grew up in. I’m really looking forward to it.” “I was super excited,” Westhelle-Grant said of landing his dream job. “I was a little worried that they weren’t going to have the staffing needs, but as soon as I got the job I was ecstatic. There’s not a better agency in the Rogue Valley to work for. It’s a super-welcoming agency and you just feel like you’re a part of a family.” Hegdahl first became interested in law enforcement as a fifth-grader at Bellview Elementary after connecting with Sgt. Bob Smith, who has worked for the Ashland Police Department since being hired as a park patrol officer in 1979. Smith’s frequent visits to Bellview, says Hegdahl, became a highlight of his week and planted a seed that grew into a career choice. “It was cool being that age and having a uniformed police officer come and talk to your class,” Hegdahl said. “I can’t remember exactly how the DARE program worked, but I know that when (Smith) was scheduled to come in a few days towards the end of the week that I was always looking forward to that.” The experience stuck with him through middle school and high school, and after his freshman year of college at Oregon Tech, where he played third base, Hegdahl applied to become an APD cadet. Hegdahl had already worked on the city’s park patrol, and his experience as a cadet only reinforced his belief that he knew what he wanted to do with his life. As a cadet, Hegdahl worked 18 hours a week in a zone that stretched from Lithia Park down to the skate park on Water Street. It wasn’t the most exciting beat — he could issue citations for ordinance violations and little else — but he loved talking with people, steering tourists to the best restaurants and in general representing the town in which he grew up. Westhelle-Grant started to consider a career in law enforcement in high school, but didn’t take the first step and join the park patrol until after he transferred from Willamette University to Portland State, then from Portland State to Southern Oregon University. At Willamette, he originally targeted classes in economics and business, but when those failed to light a spark he transferred to PSU. There, Westhelle-Grant found what he was looking for in its criminal justice program, but while he loved the classes he was less enamored with city life. Everything clicked once he landed back in Ashland, and less than two years later Westhelle-Grant scored a job with the APD. Ashland police Chief Tighe O’Meara says officers who were born and raised from the town in which they serve have a special connection to the people, the value of which is difficult to quantify. “I spent the bulk of my career so far, 13 years, working in a neighborhood in Detroit that I substantially grew up in,” O’Meara said. “It’s the neighborhood where I went to high school, the neighborhood where I went to grade school, the neighborhood where I took music lessons, so I had a bunch of immediate, strong connections walking in the door there. I benefited from it, and I think the community benefited from having a local neighborhood police officer working in the area. “So again, not to take away from our men and women who didn’t grow up here because everybody does such a good job, but there is something special about local people policing their childhood hometown.” Hegdahl and Westhelle-Grant are in week six of 11 at the Police Academy and will wrap up their training in March. They’re not roommates in Salem, but they study for tests and quizzes together, they “debrief” at the end of the day to talk about what they learned and also review what went well and what didn’t. Also, they provide for each other somebody who, after countless bunt shifts and pressure-packed ground balls, a friend they know they can trust. “Being three-and-a-half hours from home,” Westhelle-Grant said, “you don’t feel as away from home.” Joe Zavala is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports Posted Jan. 7, 2016 at 6:23 PM Updated Jan 7, 2016 at 6:24 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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