SLPD loses two officers, receiving assistance from GCSO
The Soap Lake Police Department has two officers after losing one officer to Grant County Sheriff’s Office and firing another for alleged misconduct. SLPD has one lateral officer who will be joining the department from Alaska. There are two other officers within the hiring and training process.
COURTESY PHOTO/SLPD
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Police Department currently has two officers, according to Acting Chief Robert Geates, him and one other officer.
SLPD will be getting one lateral officer from Alaska after he completes his training. Geates also said he has one other officer “on background” and one officer in the academy.
The department recently lost one officer, Dakota Johnson, to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The city also fired former Chief Ryan Cox for alleged misconduct. Cox is appealing his termination.
Geates said SLPD is receiving assistance from GCSO to cover shifts that would otherwise be empty.
“They have been super helpful,” Geates said.
A public records request from the city of Soap Lake shows an invoice from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office to the Soap Lake Police Department for nearly $25,000 in the month of December for 198 hours of assistance in covering the city. For the months of October and November 2024, the city did not pay GCSO, according to records.
On the December invoice, deputies were paid rates ranging between $86.83 an hour to $150.90 an hour. Deputies are paid at an overtime rate when completing coverage for other jurisdictions.
The Columbia Basin Herald has requested the receipts for January and February.
GCSO Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman confirmed that Soap Lake has been receiving assistance and said GCSO covered a dozen 12-hour shifts so far in March or around 144 hours. Foreman said it was a similar amount in February.
“We go out there and cover their night shifts that they don’t have the staffing for,” Foreman said.