SEASIDE – Seaside Police Cpl. Thomas Cain is the Seaside Police Department’s newest sergeant, effective Dec. 1.

Cain replaces officer Dave Ham, who, in turn, will replace Chief Deputy Jan Schumaker when she retires in January.

Cain started at the department in 1992 as a reserve officer and was hired full-time in 1995. He now serves as the department’s D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer and is the director of the statewide Kiwanis Law Enforcement Camp for junior and senior-high school students.

As sergeant, Cain will supervise patrol officers, schedule shifts and approve police reports. He also assumes responsibility of the police reserve program and will fill in on the road when a patrol officer is sick.

Cain will participate in the department’s Field Training and Evaluation Program (FTEP) as well as supervisory courses at the police academy.

A person in middle-management would not normally continue to run the D.A.R.E. program because of added duties. But Police Chief Ken Almberg will allow Cain to continue his work with fifth-graders at Seaside and Gearhart elementary schools.

“He wants to do it and he’ll just have to work around all those things,” Almberg said. “You need a special person to get in there and get those kids excited. You need sensitivity and communication skills. He’s got the knowledge to do it.”

Cain has a special connection to his work with the law enforcement camp, which he attended as a high school senior.

“I was one of those kids who wanted to do police work but I was kind of nervous about it,” he said. “My spelling and grammar weren’t that good and I was kind of a small guy.”

Cain considers the fact that he has lived in Seaside since his high school years both a pro and con.

“I know people and I know families,” he said. “But the con is that I may have to arrest someone I know and like. People know my name.”

Cain also brings a lot of “business savvy” to the job, Almberg said. He owns his own cleaning business and used to own a car detailing shop.

“He knows what the business community needs from the police,” Almberg said. “He has shown independent thought and leadership and he understands citizen clients and customer service.”