Columbus Chief of Police Michael Richardson recently announced two promotions and a lateral transfer within the police department ranks.
Toby Combest was recently promoted to the rank of Uniform Division Captain. He most recently served as lieutenant of the Criminal Investigation Division. Combest is a lifelong resident of Columbus and a 12-year veteran of CPD. He attended Vincennes University as well as the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. During his career at CPD, he has served as a patrol officer, field training officer, SWAT team member, uniform sergeant, field training officer supervisor, and a detective sergeant. Combest is currently a member of the Indiana State Police Methamphetamine Suppression Team, as well as a PAAL board member and coach. He is also a graduate of the Police Executive Leadership Academy.
Jay Frederick was selected to become the department’s Administrative Captain after Capt. Jon Rohde announced his retirement from CPD. Captain Frederick, who previously served as the department’s Uniform Division Captain, has been a law enforcement officer for over 30 years. He has served in several different capacities as a CPD officer for nearly two decades. He holds a bachelor of science degree in public safety with a specialization in criminal justice. His specialty areas include death investigations and drug investigations. He has served as CPD’s school liaison officer, DARE coordinator, patrol sergeant, and lieutenant of the Criminal Investigations Division, which includes the Detective Unit, Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET), and Intelligence Led Policing Unit (ILP).
Ryan Linneweber was recently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Criminal Investigations Division. Linneweber has 15 years of law enforcement experience, 13 of which have been with the Columbus Police Department. Linneweber has served as a patrol officer, SWAT officer, and a member of the hostage/crisis negotiations team as well as a field training officer. He has worked in CPD’s Investigation Division for the past nine years. During this time, he was the lead investigator on several high level felony cases and was the department’s primary financial crimes investigator.
