From the front page to the front lines

Former Advocate editor finds niche in police work

“I see, generally, three types of people who get into law enforcement,” said Claudio Grandjean, a Gresham Police captain. “Those for which it’s just a job – and really there aren’t many that do it for that; those who consider it a career; and then there’s those who consider it a calling. That was me.”

Grandjean has fulfilled his calling to protect and serve the city of Gresham for nearly 30 years. He was hired on in 1987 as a patrol officer, a position he held until 1994 when he was promoted to detective. From there, he went on to become sergeant in 2005, lieutenant in 2010, until finally he reached his current position, police captain, in 2015.

However, the true intrigue in his story is how he came to discover his love of law enforcement and how his background in journalism actually became an integral contribution to his success at the Gresham Police Department.

In 1981, Grandjean graduated from Gresham High School. He went on to attend MHCC, where he majored in journalism. “It was a matter of, hey, it’s close, I can save some money and they have a pretty good journalism program,” he said of his decision.

During Grandjean’s first year at Mt. Hood, he joined the staff at the Advocate. “I wasn’t planning on doing it (writing) for the Advocate, but they didn’t have anybody to do it. So they asked me and I said, ‘Oh, sure,’ ” he said. Mostly he wrote about sports, but he also wrote the occasional movie review and often drew cartoons for the paper. When his sophomore year rolled around, he became sports editor for the Advocate.

Once Grandjean acquired his associates in journalism, he transferred to Oregon State, where he continued his studies in speech communications and broadcasting. Eventually, he left school. It wasn’t until three years later that the idea of law enforcement was introduced to him.

While working at a U-Haul outlet in Gresham, a seasonal co-worker who studied criminal justice at Western Oregon University piqued his interest. When he shared his major, Grandjean responded casually. “I was, like, ‘You know, that’s interesting to me. I would have liked to pursue that,’ ” he recalled. His co-worker encouraged him to pursue it, going forward. “He said, ‘Yeah, you should. Gresham is taking reserve applications right now. You should apply.’ ”

Through the persistence of his colleague actually bringing him an application, Grandjean applied for, and soon after became, a reserve officer.

“It felt like what I was made to do,” Grandjean said of his first experiences in law enforcement. “And to be honest, I never really felt that about journalism.”

Still, he found his experience working on the Advocate, as well as studying speech communication at Oregon State, would come in handy in his newfound career.

“As it turns out, writing and speech communications was the perfect major for police work,” he said. The need for officers to document nearly everything in writing put his three years of college to good use, he explained.

Grandjean also went on to become a public relations officer for the police force, which turned the tables on him: No longer was he the interviewer, but the interviewee, working close with local media as the “talking head” of the police department, as he put it.

Looking ahead, Grandjean is close to retirement. With three grandchildren, he expressed a want to spend more of his time with them. But most of all, he keeps an open mind.

“You know, I’m just going to figure out what the future brings,” he said.

As for the Advocate staff now here at MHCC, we not only thank Grandjean for his service to our community, but also for his service to the students and our publication during his time with paper.

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