COVER STORY

for her shift partners. She is a “Team Player” who always puts the needs of the department over hers.” Shares Sergeant Bogenreif.

Officer Jordan Sowell was the final officer to be recognize for the 2022 year and received the honor of Officer of the Year. Liberty Lake Police Chief Simmons awards this himself and had the following excerpt to say about Officer Sowell. “Officer Sowell’s commitment to public safety, our community, and our agency is reflective in his exemplary work ethic and attitude. He is a great example of the fact that leadership is not based on stripes, bars, leaves, or stars. He is truly an instrumental part of our agency fulfilling our mission.”

When asked what the community needs to be aware of Chief Simmons responded, “We are seeing an increase of fentanyl within our community. It’s not so much with our citizens, but it’s with those ‘Port-of-Entry’ problems. So, we are seeing a lot. Educate your children. Don’t accept pills if you don’t know what they are. Educate yourself and your kids on the danger of it cause it is here.”

Lieutenant Morgan has lived in the Liberty Lake area for several years and is proud to call the city his home. After serving in the Army for over twenty years as a Military Policeman, he retired from duty and moved to serving his local community as a Patrol Sargent. He has been with the Liberty Lake Police Department for fifteen years and views the department and community as an extension of his family. “The biggest thing for me in this community is the way that the citizens feel about their law enforcement as a whole. They are very law enforcement friendly. We are always welcomed and get greeted and people love to see their officers out in the community. They respect the job that we do and appreciate the job that we do. I’ve never been in a community that is so law enforcement friendly.”

“It starts with our city government, our mayor, our city administrator, and our city council. We have such a supportive city government and community and it’s such a joy to go to work everyday and be able to step out into the community and stop at one of the local gas stations or stores and have just great conversations with people. Everyone waves at you with five fingers (wink) and that doesn’t happen everywhere. It’s almost a joke for Lieutenant Morgan and I that to grab a bite to eat or get gas, it’s going to be a 30–45 minute conversation with somebody, it’s just a great community! It’s truly a joy to come to work every day.” Chief Simmons shares about Liberty Lake.