Mayor excited about new police chief

MATTAWA - Mayor Judy Esser is "excited" that former Grant County Undersheriff John Turley will become the Mattawa Police Chief on Jan. 5.

Turley will be the interim chief for six months at $68,000 a year. Esser hopes he will enter the civil service process to seek the position permanently.

A civil service process was under way, candidates had been interviewed and tested before Turley was hired. All of those candidates came up short of what the city was seeking, Esser said, and they were informed the city would continue the search. Meanwhile Turley called.

"I found out through the grapevine that Mattawa was looking for a chief," he said. "I was asked why I hadn't applied. I didn't know about it. I called and told them I'd be interested if they needed my help in the future."

Turley's call was the offer city officials apparently felt they couldn't refuse. They hired him temporarily while they continued the on-going civil service process for a permanent chief.

"We needed to get going," said Esser, who was familiar with Turley's history.

The civil service candidates still had to go through background checks, polygraph testing and psychological testing, Esser noted. City officials believed Turley had what they were seeking.

Mattawa has been without a police chief since July, when Steve Jensen was sidelined by a department re-organization. He later resigned.

Turley has experience that impressed city officials. He started his career as a reserve deputy undersheriff in San Bernardino County, Calif. in 1989. Nearly all of his work since then has been in this area.

Turley signed on as a patrol deputy with the Adams County Sheriff in 1994. He became a Grant County Sheriff's patrol deputy in 1997, chief of detectives in 2003 and undersheriff in 2008.

"I spent a lot of time in Mattawa, Beverly, Schawana and Desert Aire, and I speak Spanish," Turley said.

Turley has attended the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va. He has a bachelor of science degree from Brigham Young University-Provo. He was in charge of GCSO day-to-day operations as the undersheriff.

Turley resigned and retired after the election of 2010. He had supported the losing sheriff's campaign. He was living in Las Vegas, Nev. working at a part-time job when he heard about the open Mattawa position.

"I wasn't actively looking for a job," he said.

But Turley hadn't really planned on being retired either. He noted he's only 63.

"I would like to thank the Mayor and Mattawa City Council for accepting me," he said. "The City of Mattawa is a very unique and challenging city."

Turley said he's committed to providing the leadership and direction that will build a new trust with the citizens, business owners, and leaders of this community.

"I am not new to the diversity of problems with the community and have the skills and knowledge to help resolve and diminish those problems," he said.