Officer hopes to get rehired

Former Bainbridge Island police officer Michael Tovar is hoping to return to the Bainbridge department.

In late November, Tovar asked the city’s Civil Service Commission to rescind his letter of resignation from his position on the Bainbridge force.

“I’m officially requesting to withdraw my resignation from the Bainbridge Island Police Department,” Tovar wrote in the Nov. 29 letter. “It is my desire to return to the city of Bainbridge Island Police Department and serve its community with the utmost humility.”

Tovar had earlier resigned to take a job with the Bremerton Police Department. He has since decided he’d rather be working back on Bainbridge.

At its meeting earlier this week, the commission agreed to put Tovar back on the hiring eligibility list for Bainbridge police.

Police Chief Matthew Hamner said Tovar left the department on good terms. He had been with the Bainbridge force since 2008, when Matt Haney was chief, and before that, served as an investigator for the Washington State Human Rights Commission, and worked 11 years in the Yakima Police Department.

Bainbridge is currently seeking more officers, and Tovar will get a look now that he’s on the eligibility list.

“I’m in the process of making sure he still meets all of our requirements,” Hamner said.