Grant County detective honored by Girl Scouts

MOSES LAKE — Grant County Sheriff’s Detective Katrina Ball was recognized March 7 as a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. It was an unexpected honor, she said. 

“I didn’t really know much about what the Girl Scouts was, and being invited to that event allowed me to learn so much about the Girl Scouts and what it means to be a Woman of Distinction,” Ball said. 

Ball was one of eight women honored at the ceremony, and the only one from Moses Lake, Her nomination came from Girl Scout Jenna Zemke of Moses Lake, who wrote ion glowing terms of Ball’s career. 

“She is ... a woman of character starting her military career in 2006 serving in the Army National Guard, bravely completing two deployments one to Iraq and one to Afghanistan,” Zemke wrote in her nomination. “Wanting to give back her community as well, this confident leader joined the Grant County Jail as a corrections deputy in 2012 and quickly rose in the ranks becoming the first female patrol deputy in 2015. Serving both her country and county with distinction, Katrina showed herself as an exemplary citizen-soldier quickly being recognized by her supervisors for her excellent law enforcement skills. A woman of courage, confidence and character, she was selected to be the first women to be a detective in 2021. Katrina continues in this role today in Grant County and focuses on child abuse cases and Internet Crimes Against Children.” 

Ball, a native of Moses Lake and a 2007 graduate of Moses Lake High School, is still the only female detective at the GCSO, but she said that doesn’t make a lot of difference. 

“I work with all men in my unit, but every single one of them has my back, and vice-versa,” she said. “I have heard of negative experiences for women (in law enforcement). I’m fortunate that I’ve never had that. I’ve felt supported in my agency and supported by my peers throughout. When you work hard and you work with good people, that’s what they appreciate.” 

Ball spearheaded the GCSO’s efforts in the area of internet crimes against children, or ICAC, she said, and that’s still her passion, even though she has to confront some horrifying crimes. 

“Getting those predators off the street has been a huge accomplishment for me,” Ball said. “I’ve done five or six arrests since we started working (ICAC) pretty hard in 2024.  They’re very complex and very time-consuming. They’re mentally draining, but they are so rewarding. You work so hard to write all the warrants and go through the mental horror of going all through the files, and then being able to make the arrests in the end is … very rewarding at the end. 

Ball has a 4-year-old son at home, she said, which adds an extra dimension to her work with crimes against children. 

“It’s negatively affected me some days,” she said. “But once all is said and done, I’m so glad that I did it and I got somebody like that put away for a long time.”