Ponozzo retires from law enforcement after 36 years

EPHRATA — After a storied career of 36 years in law enforcement, Undersheriff Dave Ponozzo will be retiring from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The law enforcement officer, who has accepted a position as emergency manager for the Grant Public Utility District, will be celebrating his final day on the force Friday.

Sheriff Tom Jones took the occasion to remember the role that Ponozzo had played in Jones’ time in law enforcement.

“As a young law enforcement professional that had just been hired by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, I had Dave Ponozzo as my patrol Sergeant,” Jones said in a press release. “He was a great leader, mentor and cop.”

Ponozzo’s law enforcement service began in 1982 as a corrections officer at the Washington State Penitentiary before serving as a patrol officer for the Soap Lake Police Department from 1987-88. He has served 30 years in the sheriff’s office, where he began duty in 1988.

In the sheriff’s office, Ponozzo has served as deputy, sergeant, chief deputy, and detective on the Narcotics Enforcement Team, and was appointed undersheriff by Sheriff Tom Jones in 2011.

“Having come up through the ranks in the sheriff’s office and eventually being elected as sheriff, I wanted to continue seeing that leadership in the agency,” Jones said in a press release. “It was an easy decision to appoint Dave as my undersheriff. He has affected many lives throughout his career and I have no doubt that he will be just as successful in his future endeavor. He will be missed for sure.”

Chief Deputy of Special Operations Ryan Rectenwald will be appointed undersheriff in Ponozzo’s stead; likewise, Sergeant Dustin Canfield will be taking on the role of Chief Deputy of Special Operations.

Rectenwald has served in law enforcement since 1987, when he worked eight years with the U.S. Army as a member of the Military Police. He joined the sheriff’s office in 1996 as a corrections deputy before joining the Ephrata Police Department as a patrol officer. In 2003, Rectenwald rejoined the sheriff’s office and served as a patrol deputy, major crimes detective, detective on the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team and Chief Deputy of Special Operations.

Canfield began his law enforcement career in 2007 with the Quincy Police Department, where he served as a patrol officer and as a detective with the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team. Canfield was hired by the sheriff’s office in 2010, where he has served as a patrol deputy and technical collision investigator before being promoted to sergeant in 2017 and assigned to a patrol platoon.

Both Rectenwald and Canfield will take the oath of office on Dec. 2 at 9:30 a.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Law and Justice Building, located in Ephrata.