There soon will be a new sheriff in town.
Will it be the tough-talking street cop who has won the support of others like him on the front lines?
Or could the job go to a man who started at the wheel of a patrol car and has risen to become the department’s chief financial officer?
How about the retired Washington State Patrol sergeant who is a respected state politician known for supporting anti-crime measures?
After nearly 12 years under the direction of Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart, the community will look to another person to lead the fight against crime.
Snohomish County sheriff’s Lt. Rob Beidler, sheriff’s Chief Tom Greene and state Rep. John Lovick are on the ballot for this month’s primary. The two men who earn the most votes in the nonpartisan race will face off in November’s general election.
Beidler and Greene have been campaigning publicly and drawing supporters for about two years. Lovick was quietly making his intentions known even as he made a bid for the state Legislature last year.
Beidler has deep support among police officers around the county. He’s raked in the endorsements of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and the larger police unions.
Greene has endorsements from other county sheriffs in the state and police administrators as well as backing from some of the county’s Republican leaders.
Lovick is drawing support from local and state Democratic leaders plus some top criminal justice leaders, including the Snohomish County prosecutor and the police chief in the county’s largest city.
All three men say public safety should be the county’s top priority.
It will be up to voters to decide who’s best qualified.
Rob Beidler
Beidler, 40, has a business degree from Western Washington University and 16 years’ experience in law enforcement. He started his career with the Snohomish Police Department in 1991 and joined the sheriff’s office two years later.
He has moved up the ranks and was promoted to lieutenant in 2005. Beidler has supervised various special operations units, such as the SWAT and bomb squads. He now oversees the north precinct and is the sheriff’s office’s assistant division commander.
Beidler said he believes he has the right skills to lead deputies and the community.
“My plan is about fighting crime and making Snohomish County the safest place it can be,” Beidler said. “The group in Snohomish County that most doesn’t want me elected is the criminals.”
He said he believes the sheriff’s office needs to develop a long-term plan on how it will spend its money. The sheriff’s office must prove it has done the best with the resources it has before asking for additional deputies, he said.
Beidler said he believes a new approach to answering nonemergency 911 calls will help make better use of resources. He said about 35 percent of the calls the sheriff’s office receives, including parking complaints or reports of abandoned vehicles, could be handled by noncommissioned staff rather than by sending out a deputy.
That would free up deputies to go after the most harmful criminals in the county, Beidler said.
He said effective policing means aggressively searching for and putting pressure on the people who are committing the majority of the crimes in the county.
“Over the last decade deputies have become crime ‘documentors,’” Beidler said. “We’ve gotten away from crime fighting. We need to change that mentality and you do it through leadership.”
Beidler points to the support he has received from police and fire unions as an important indicator that he is the best candidate for the job.
“If the men and women in uniform are not willing to follow you, you can accomplish nothing,” Beidler said.
Tom Greene
Greene, 56, has an undergraduate degree in criminology from California State University at Long Beach and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California.
He worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for a decade. In 1982 he was hired by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, where he has worked his way up to bureau chief. He is a graduate of the FBI’s law enforcement academy.
Greene said he’s the only candidate with the right combination of education and experience to run the sheriff’s office from his first day on the job.
“I think the taxpayers deserve a sheriff who doesn’t have to spend the first term learning how to be sheriff,” he said.
Greene said he believes being the county sheriff is similar to being a chief executive officer of a company.
Greene has been responsible for developing the sheriff’s office budget as well as recruiting and hiring new deputies and overseeing the contracts with other cities for police services.
His strategy for running the office will be emphasizing crime prevention, pursuing top offenders, investing in technology and measuring the office’s performance, he said.
“Generally speaking I think people are pretty happy with the sheriff’s office,” he said.
One concern, however, has emerged as he has talked with the public, Greene said. People have said they feel as if deputies don’t care about them or whether they’ve been a victim.
“I know that’s not true agency-wide. It’s limited to a few,” he said. “I want to encourage my people and set an example. We’re a compassionate organization as well as a crime-fighting agency.”
Greene said he believes some of the problem may stem from the workload the deputies face. They are frustrated at having to jump from call to call, Greene said.
He said believes his strategy will help decrease the number of calls deputies take. Greene said he also would propose a system that would add more deputies and support personnel based on an increase in 911 calls.
Greene said he’d want to give the public a way to comment about how deputies handle themselves when responding to calls. He’s not sure how.
He said he would show deputies that a positive attitude is valued and rewarded. He also would encourage more sheriff’s office employees to volunteer.
“I can’t make them do it. I can encourage them and make it worth their while,” Greene said.
John Lovick
Lovick, 56, served in the U.S. Coast Guard and has an associate of arts degree in criminal justice from Shoreline Community College. He was a Washington State Patrol trooper for 31 years, retiring as a sergeant in 2004. Lovick has been a state representative for nine years and serves as the House speaker pro tem.
Lovick said his background as a police officer and policymaker gives him the most diverse experience among the three candidates.
“No one will work harder for the people of Snohomish County,” Lovick said. “I think people want a sheriff they know and can depend on. I think people know me.”
Lovick, a veteran campaigner, has been doorbelling since the beginning of summer. He said he has learned that people want to see deputies patrolling their neighborhoods more often. Lovick said he will work to increase the presence of the deputies because it shows people the sheriff’s office is being vigilant.
“If people want a motorcycle officer in their neighborhood, we’ll find a way to make that happen,” Lovick said. “They can call me personally and I’ll put a uniform on and go out there.
“These are our customers. We have to go after the criminals. We also provide a service to the community.”
People need to know the sheriff’s office cares, Lovick said.
“I can pledge under my leadership we’ll be the best friend of the citizens and worst enemy of the criminals,” he said.
Lovick said he believes in building stronger partnerships with other police agencies and the community. Those partnerships could reduce response times.
Lovick said he would eventually add more deputies. He said he has the experience to work well with the County Council and the executive to make that happen.
“I have worked in this environment for 14 years,” he said. “I know what it’s like to negotiate with policymakers and convince them what is needed.”
Lovick said he would continue to ask people who live here what they want from the sheriff’s office.
“My heart is to be a police officer,” Lovick said. “I’ve passed some of the best crime-fighting legislation, and now I want to be around in the enforcement capacity.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@ heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
