New Mattawa police chief focused on community

MATTAWA — Robert Salinas said transparency and making connections are a big part of successful law enforcement.

“If I see somebody in a convenience store, (if) I’m pumping gas, I’m talking to them. I’m asking them what their perception is of the police department, what their experience is. Because I’m trying to find out what concerns they have,” he said.

Salinas is the new chief of the Mattawa Police Department. Prior to coming to Mattawa he was a sergeant with the Granger Police Department. He was selected for the role by the Mattawa City Council in late March after two committees established for the purpose of identifying a permanent police chief recommended him for the role.

As somebody new to Mattawa, Salinas said he wants to get out and talk to its residents, find out about them and their point of view.

“If they’re not going to come into my office, I will seek them out, out in the community,” Salinas said.

He wants to know because it’s crucial to making a better MPD.

“I just want to see what their past experience is, and how we can be better as a department,” he said.

Salinas has been a police officer since 1999. He spent about 10 years with the Toppenish Police Department, then went to work in Ellensburg for about seven years. He joined the Granger PD in 2019.

Salinas replaces interim chief Estevan Araguz, the chief in Granger. Araguz replaced interim chief Mike Williams, a captain with the Moses Lake Police Department, who had left that department citing issues with city council.

Williams had been hired to replace former chief Joe Harris, who was placed on administrative leave by Mayor Maria Celaya before being fired in April 2021.

Salinas said he wants the department to take lessons from the challenges of the past and keep building on the successes. He wants to be accessible to Mattawa residents and let them know what the department is doing, he said.

“One thing I can offer is transparency, being as transparent as possible,” he said. “I think when problems come about is when you’re not willing to talk to community members, you’re not willing to answer the questions that they do have.

“I expect the community, my officers (and) the council to hold me to a standard, while holding me accountable to that standard. Whether I agree with it or not, that’s the position I chose to be in,” he said.

Being chief means being visible and involved in the community, he said.

“I don’t want people just to see me in uniform,” he said. “One of the things I’d like to do is see how it is here on the weekends, see how it is during special events. Not always me in uniform, but where people see me as a person, not just the chief. I think it’s important to be where (residents) relate to me just as a person.”

But even off duty he still has to meet the standard he sets for himself, he said.

“Just being a police officer, eyes are on you at all times,” he said.

Salinas said every day is different in law enforcement, and that was one of multiple reasons he was drawn to wear a badge. While he said it may seem cliche, he also wanted to make a difference while meeting members of or visitors to the community every day.

“You get to meet new people, and you’re able to provide a service to them when they’re not always at their best. My idea of policing is education. I think those are perfect opportunities when we can educate people and we don’t always have to rely on enforcement. There comes a time when enforcement is needed, but there’s also that area where we can operate in (to) educate people.”

As his career has advanced, his motivation changed a little, he said. The job is still different every day, and that’s still attractive. But being the chief puts him in a new position.

“I talked to my sons about this, shortly after I took the job. I told (them), ‘The reason this job is so important to me is because now I’m in a position where my voice matters.’ And you can actually make the changes needed within an organization,” he said. “I can gather the information from the officers that work for me, the community members, the council, the mayor. I’m able to take all that in and make a decision, or come up with the best solution for everybody involved.”