Quincy swears in new interim police chief
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald New Quincy Interim Police Chief William Larson (right) prepares to swear in Quincy’s newest police officer, Isaiah Graham, at a meeting of the Quincy City Council on Tuesday.
QUINCY — Quincy’s new interim police chief was sworn in Tuesday evening, and his first official act was to swear in a new a police officer.
“I can’t minimize the significance of the oath of office,” new interim Chief William Larson told a packed regular meeting of the Quincy City Council. “I took my first oath of office over three decades ago, and it has been the driving force and inspiration for everything I’ve done.”
As he prepared to swear in Isaiah Graham, who comes to the Quincy Police Department from a stint as a police officer in Seattle, Larson said he takes the oath very seriously, that it is a creed lived out in every moment of a police officer’s life.
Larson was named Quincy’s new interim police chief at a special meeting of the Quincy City Council following the surprise resignation of former chief Bob Heimbach. While the city describes Heimbach’s leaving as mutually agreed upon, the former chief has disputed that description, saying he was given less than a day to submit his resignation or face being fired.
Larson, a Tacoma native, comes to Quincy after a 28-year career with the Washington State Patrol, including command of the North Central Washington district with its headquarters in Wenatchee, and some years heading up security for the Chelan County Public Utility District. Both he and his wife Kay, a Soap Lake native, have settled in Wenatchee.
“I loved being a part of law enforcement,” Larson told the Columbia Basin Herald. “I have this old-fashioned idea of public service to the community, of doing a job that is meaningful and can enhance life in the community.”
Quincy’s new interim police chief also said he hopes to provide the department with some stability and effective leadership.
However, as a retired police officer, Larson currently doesn’t have the authority to arrest anyone. Because of that, the Quincy City Council quickly and unanimously amended the city code allowing the city to hire a police chief who doesn’t possess that power.
Larson said his contract with Quincy is set to end on August 31.