LYNNWOOD — The new police chief in Lynnwood won’t need a map or an app to find his way around town.
Jim Nelson, 50, knows the terrain well, all seven square miles of it.
A deputy chief these days, he has spent his entire 28-year law enforcement career in Lynnwood, steadily climbing the ranks from patrol officer to the top.
Mayor Nicola Smith has named Nelson to be the city’s next chief after current Chief Tom Davis retires at the end of the month. The appointment will go before the Lynnwood City Council in August for formal confirmation.
“He is respected and trusted by the employees of LPD and other City Departments and he is committed to our City and our community members,” Smith said in a written statement announcing the promotion. “We are fortunate to have someone who is ready, willing, and qualified to take over the helm and move us closer to our goal of being a safe, welcoming and inclusive City.”
Clean cut and slender, he’s perhaps the most likely member of his department to use the word “Jeepers.”
The day he becomes chief will mark the 28th anniversary from the day he started with the department.
He said he is grateful for the chance and for the message hiring a police chief internally sends to others in the department.
Nelson also has been a detective, a detective sergeant, sergeant with the South Snohomish County Narcotics Task Force, commander of investigations and commander of the detention division and municipal jail. Since 2016, he has been one of the department’s two deputy police chiefs and has insight into the operations and administrative sides of the department.
Much of his career was spent in investigations, often involving violent crimes. With fellow detective Steve Rider and detective Sgt. Steve Bredeson, Nelson helped solve a two-decades-old homicide in the late 1990s. Their approach of using DNA technology was considered pioneering at the time, and led to a guilty plea by James L. Stephens Jr., who admitted to the May 1976 murder of 18-year-old Kimberly Koontz. She had been babysitting at the time. In the 1970s, there hadn’t been enough evidence to take the case to trial, but Stephens pleaded guilty when confronted with the evidence from the resurrected cold case investigation.
“To bring closure for her family was particularly rewarding,” Nelson said, 21 years after the conviction.
Nelson grew up in Minnesota before his family moved to Alaska when he was in the ninth grade. He learned to love the outdoors in and around Juneau. These days, when not at work, he backpacks, hikes, fishes, skis and enjoys time with his wife, two young daughters and adult son.
He moved to Washington after high school, attended Everett Community College for a time, served in the Marines and later finished his associates degree at Edmonds Community College. Not only can he claim attending both of Snohomish County’s community colleges, he also holds credentials from Washington State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and the University of Washington, where he received a Certificate in Forensics. He also holds a master’s in public administration from the University of Nebraska.
He did much of his college work through online courses while employed at the police department.
In August, he will inherit a department with 71 commissioned officers when fully staffed and 108 employees overall. The city’s population is approaching 40,000.
“Over nearly three decades I have had the opportunity to help build strong relationships with our diverse community, and I look forward to continuing to find innovative ways to develop trust between our officers and the people who depend on us so that we may provide them with the best public safety service possible,” he said.
Eric Stevick: stevick@heraldnet.com
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