Mattawa police force nearly complete
Former Grant County Undersheriff John Turley took over as Mattawa Police Chief on Jan. 1. Since then, the Mattawa Police Department has grown from one man to fourmen and one woman.
The Mattawa Police Department patrol force is four persons strong, which gives the community at least one officer on patrol 20 hours every day. As soon as recent Police Academy graduate Thomas Williams finishes field training with Cpl. Anthony Valdivia, there will be patrols 24-7. Front row, from left, the MPD members are Williams, Administrative Police Clerk Maybeline Pantaleon and Eastern Washington University intern Santiago Mata. Back row, from left, they are Officer Mike Stump, Chief of Police John Turley and Valdivia.
MATTAWA - When John Turley took over as police chief of Mattawa on Jan. 1, there was only one officer to patrol the entire community of 6,000.
Now there are four officers, making the patrol force complete. Turley plans to back them up with a system of 10 cameras around town.
Turley also hopes to have a new school resource officer for the Washington State Migrant Council day care center and the lower grades in the Wahluke school system. He is writing a COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) grant to fund that position for three years.
The Washington State Migrant Council and Wahluke Schools Superintendent Aaron Chavez are on board with this plan. So is Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones, who has his own SRO at the junior high and high school.
Mattawa had just one officer working from about July 1 last year to Jan. 1. The police chief resigned after a long period of forced paid leave. One officer remains on forced leave but is on the payroll. Officer Tony Valdivia was the only policeman working.
"You have to commend him. He did a great job," Turley said.
Valdivia, who worked a lot of overtime, had help from the Grant County sheriff's office. The city was patrolled fully, but it cost the city $13,000 per month for one deputy for 12 hours for 17 days. Turley noted that is the cost of 2-3 officers.
Since Jan. 1, the former Grant County undersheriff has added officers Thomas Williams and Mike Stump. With a chief and three officers, the city has patrols out 20 hours per day.
Only the hours with the least activity are not covered. And that is because Williams it still doing field training with Valdivia. When he finishes, in the near future, he'll go on patrol solo, and the city will be covered 24-7.
There were plans for four patrol officers along with the chief. The chief now believes he can cover the city better with cameras.
"We'll put one at each exit out of town, and we'll have one on top of the water tower," he said.
These are 360-degree zoom, pan, tilt cameras. The one on the tower will cover the whole community from various angles day and night.
Turley said the cameras will not violate Fourth Amendment rights of residents. They will not be used for catching speeders and issuing speeding tickets, he said. They will not peer into private windows.
"They will help us collect evidence in the investigation of crimes and help protect officers who are going to incident," Turley said. "They'll be able to check the cameras to see what they're walking into before they walk in."
Turley hopes the cameras will help reduce drive-by shootings. Immediately after a call, officers will be able to check the cameras to see which vehicles have entered or left town during the timeframe of the incident. License plates will be legible to these cameras.
Meanwhile, Turley plans to improve the department's community policing program. The SRO he is hoping for is part of that plan.
The SRO would work at the migrant day care center and at Mattawa's elementary schools. The purpose would not be policing but instead outreach. The SRO would spend time in each classroom, speaking with children, encouraging them, helping them dream.
"A lot of kids in this town have had a rough life to begin with," Turley said. "I want to help build their self-esteem, their character."
Turley noted that Santiago Mata, a department intern from Eastern Washington University and a lifelong resident of Mattawa, would like a crack at that position.
"He would be ideal," Turley said. "He grew up like these kids. He knows these kids. He speaks their language."
Meanwhile, Turley noted, Mattawa officers conduct community policing. They are instructed to be polite, to be friendly and to make contact with residents.
"I wave at kids all the time," Turley said. "I even wave at those I know I gang members. As long as they're not breaking the law, there's no problem. We can all be friendly."