Helen Coubra is new police chief

Helen Coubra has been in law enforcement since 1986, mostly working west of the Cascades and most recently working for Wahkiakum County. That department was not very large, having only nine officers, including the sheriff and undersheriff. However, this will be her first job as head of a police force, as well as her first job in such a small department.

She said she plans to be visiting the downtown businesses and getting acquainted with folks on the street just as soon as she has cleaned up some of the paperwork on her desk. She is also reviewing past cases, particularly still-open cases, to familiarize herself with what has been going on in Odessa.

She will also visit the school and get to know more of the school-age children. She also plans to give presentations on bullying, Facebook interactions and the uses and abuses of other social media.

Small towns, she says, have the same problems as big towns for the most part. Only violent crime seems to be less of an issue in most smaller towns. But drug problems, theft, sexual crimes and domestic violence occur in towns big or small, differing only in the magnitude of the numbers. She was actually surprised to see so few cases of child rape or sexual assault reported in Odessa and wondered aloud whether the reason was because they did not happen much here (which would make her very happy) or whether they are simply not often reported out of embarassment or fear (which, sadly, she would find to be a far more likely reason).

Chief Coubra has two grown sons and several grandchildren. One son lives in Wenatchee, and being closer to the grandchildren who live there was one thing that prompted Coubra to accept the position in Odessa.