Interim police chief doesn't want permanent gig

RITZVILLE - Former Police Chief Dave McCormick gave the city his notice of retirement in February this year, but there was no public announcement of a vacancy until three months later.

Perhaps the city was hoping he would change his mind, but the pause in advertising the job delayed hiring a replacement or even a fill-in until a permanent candidate could be selected.

Finally the city selected Bill Benner to be an "interim" chief of police. Benner had an honorary cross-over with McCormick at an Oct. 15 meeting with the city council.

Benner said he doesn't want this to be a forever job.

"I retired years ago, "Benner said, "and a friend of mine was chief for the Spokane Indian tribe. He quit there last year and was looking for another job, and noticed this ad and said this is something you should do because I told him I was bored in retirement.

"I said, 'I don't think so,' and he said if I decided I wanted to do it, 'Would you be willing to help me if I ran into problems?' So we came down and talked to the mayor and city attorney and one thing led to another, and they asked me if I would be interested in doing it for six months."

Benner responded he could be coaxed, "but I'm not interested for long term. It's just to help you get through this time, I'd be happy to do that."

Benner said when he retired in 2012, he was a patrol sergeant for the City of Cheney.

"I wasn't holding a job in 2020 when COVID started," Benner said, and spending some time in Ritzville at that time, he was startled by the kinds, and the numbers of calls Ritzville police were handling. He said there were calls about people on drugs, gang activity, "You think of Ritzville as a nice, peaceful, quiet, bedroom community. It's not that anymore,"

Benner said he was hired on Oct. 2, and until Oct. 15, when the city council met, there were 52 calls for service, "and a number of those were burglaries, domestic violence and assaults. To me, those are alarming calls because they're not just a trespasser or something simple, they're actual crimes against people."

Benner said his department has four full-time officers and the chief, "and at this point we're down one officer, so there's three officers and the chief."

Benner has been off the road for so long that the state will not allow him to share active patrol duties with his staff. He is relegated to an administrative role only.

Ritzville does not have a large police force, but the city does not have a contract with Adams County to support with Sheriff Department personnel for regular patrol work. The Ritzville police are on their own, unless there is a major crime happening, such as the Oct. 22 bomb scare at Lind-Ritzville High School, when multiple agencies will pitch in to help.

Six months is a very short time, but Benner said he wants to continue moving forward on projects that the retired Chief (McCormick) had going, such as purchasing a new fully-outfitted patrol vehicle.

Benner said Ritzville's downtown impresses him.

"I think it's a real blessing for the town," he said. "The public works people work hard and they take care of the streets and the signs, and I'm very impressed with that. City hall is very busy. They're short-staffed. I think they do a really good job with the personnel they have. I've always said those that will do, will be assigned more, because they show their capabilities, and so we just expect more from them."

Sheriff Dale Wagner has said it's difficult to staff small-town police agencies because places with larger populations and more substantial tax bases can pay more. Benner agrees.

"It's hard to keep personnel when there's larger agencies paying big bucks and they're offering big bonuses to sign on," Benner said. "The core of officers we have right now are interested in serving this community."