The Perry Police Department is saying farewell to its second high-ranking officer in the course of a month, as Detective Laura Deaton recently accepted a position at the Ottumwa Police Department.

Deaton has been a part of the force for the past seven years and was promoted to Detective in 2017. She follows Sergeant Matt Aswegan out the door, after the latter officer took a job with the Polk City Police Department in July. Deaton will stay on until mid-August. Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn says he’s sad to see both Deaton and Aswegan leave, but he understands their desire to pursue opportunities that wouldn’t necessarily be open to them in this department.

Vaughn says he and the Perry City staff are doing what they can to break the cycle of talented young officers only staying for a short time, though he points out that’s a fairly common problem for most police departments in smaller cities. He also emphasizes that Perry has been able to keep several officers for a very long time, so he feels the culture in his department is a strong one. Looking ahead, Vaughn says he’ll first focus on filling the three openings in the department, which include the two vacated spots and a new officer position that was added this year. After that, he’ll look into naming a new Sergeant and Detective.