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Salem police Lt. Debra Aguilar was promoted on Friday to the rank of deputy chief.

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She is replacing Deputy Chief Jacob Burke, who retired on Thursday after nearly 26 years with the agency.

Aguilar was hired at the Salem Police Department in December 2000 and later worked as a school resource officer at West Salem High School. In 2011, she was promoted to sergeant and again two years later to lieutenant.

She has since been assigned to several specialty disciples including threat assessment, crisis negotiations and defensive tactics. The new deputy chief was also previously Salem police’s liaison to the Human Rights Commission and nonprofit Salem for Refugees. 

Aguilar is just the second woman to hold the rank of deputy chief at the Salem agency, according to the statement. 

At Aguilar’s swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Chief Trevor Womack said she “earned her new rank, having served our community for 24 years and passed a rigorous, competitive deputy chief testing process to get here today. And, she happens to be a woman in a profession still dominated by men. That is worth noting since coincidentally, she is being promoted in March which is National Women’s History Month.” 

She will now oversee Salem police’s Investigations Division as well as lead the agency’s work as part of the Community Violence Reduction Initiative, which will bring together law enforcement agencies and community organizations to focus on preventing shootings.

Here’s some of today’s news. You can always find our latest reports on our website.

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