By Cathy Logg and Brian Kelly
Herald Writers
EVERETT — Two law enforcement officers from Snohomish County are heading to Salt Lake City, Utah, this weekend to help with security for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
Everett police sergeant Dan Boardley and Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Mark Richardson will work under the supervision of the FBI searching for bombs and suspicious packages.
The two, partners on the Washington State Inter-Agency Bomb Team, are the only bomb specialists from the state selected for the Olympics.
"It’s going to be fun," Boardley said. "We’re responding members of a bomb team. We’ll be assigned to a venue. We’ll handle suspicious packages, look for anything out of the ordinary and be able to ensure that no hazard out of the ordinary exists."
Their police agencies will pay their salaries and help cover their transportation costs; the FBI will cover all overtime expenses. They’ll be at the games from Monday through Feb. 22, working six days of 12-hour shifts.
"We’ll probably get one day off a week, and even that’s not guaranteed. We’re going to be pretty busy," Boardley said.
Both describe this as a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"It’s a tremendous training opportunity. We’ll be there with the best bomb techs in the world, and we’ll be working with experts from all over the world, so we’ll learn a lot," Boardley said.
Boardley, 49, has been an Everett police officer for 10 years. Prior to that, he served 13 years as a Seattle police officer. He worked the Goodwill Games in Seattle in 1990, but said the Olympics "will be much bigger than that."
Richardson, 43, has been a commissioned officer with the sheriff’s office for 22 years. Currently, he is on the Snohomish County Drug Task Force’s biochemical team. He attended Everett High School.
In addition to the bomb specialists, roughly 200 soldiers from Washington’s National Guard unit — including soldiers from the 898th Engineer Battalion in Everett — will help with security at the Winter Games.
The troops will leave from McChord Air Force Base aboard chartered flights today and join a military security force in Salt Lake City that’s expected to reach 4,500 troops.
Spc. Craig Titzkowski, an explosives expert with the 898th and an Oak Harbor resident, said troops in the battalion are anxious to serve their country by keeping the Olympics safe.
Titzkowski, 35, said he was told about the deployment roughly three months ago and has had plenty of time to get his family and his employer ready for his absence. The father of eight, Titzkowski is a heavy equipment operator for a trucking company in Sedro-Woolley.
"They’re stoked, they’re ready to roll," he said.
You can call Herald Writer Cathy Logg at 425-339-3437
or send e-mail to logg@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
