Major transition for Mattawa Police

Town considered disbanding police department, rejects GCSO offer

MATTAWA — When the chief of the Mattawa Police Department retired two weeks ago, city officials considered the possibility of letting the Grant County Sheriff's Office take over.

Since the police department was created in 1989, it has faced the difficulty of providing service to a population which swells seasonally and continues to depend on dwindling budgets. During harvest season, the town grows from 3,500 to 5,500 people as day laborers flow into town, most of whom are single men, causing spikes in crime. When Police Chief Randy Blackburn retired, city officials considered eliminating the police department all together in the transition. However, after entertaining a proposal from the GCSO to provide law enforcement services, Mayor Judy Esser said that she will be looking to hire new officers for the MPD.

"It was just a proposal," Esser said of the GCSO offer.

According to GCSO Chief Deputy John Turley, it would cost the town approximately $451,000 for the first year of service, with a 4 percent increase each year to cover it through the contract. The contract would provide four deputies to cover the area, with at least one on duty at all times of the day and night.

Town officials determined that the GCSO contract would be too expensive.

The town will spend about $313,000 in 2005 on police services and around $400,000 in 2006, Esser said. After wages, insurance, benefits, fuel and other costs are added, the town pays about $85,000 for each officer on the street. The town needs five officers to provide 24-hour service, but they can't afford that, Esser said.

With a new police chief and three full-time officers, however, the department could survive.

"Even with four officers, the force would not be able to provide for the population increase for three or four months each year," Esser said.

The mayor and council have decided that the best option will be to build a new department.

Right now, the MPD has Sergeant Steve Jensen, who has been on the department for 12 years, managing operations until a new chief is found. The town recently hired a reserve officer, who will attend the police academy for six months and eventually become a regular full-time officer for the department.

In the meantime, Esser said she will be looking to hire a six-month replacement for the officer attending the academy and would like to hire one more.

"We may try blending the two," Esser said, describing a possible situation where GCSO deputies may be contracted to support two or three regular MPD officers.