The Crest

About and for Spokane Valley area seniors

New Assit. Police Chief Focusing on ‘Modernizing Precient,’ Return to CommunityOriented Policing

By Colette Buck Current contributor

Day-to-day command of the Spokane Valley Police Department now rests in the hands of newlyappointed Assistant Police Chief Sean Walter, a Spokane County native and 24-year veteran of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Walter grew up here in Spokane and first started his law enforcement career as a corrections officer at the Spokane County Jail where he worked for two years before getting hired as a patrol deputy. He was assigned all over Spokane County in his fifteen years on patrol but spent the majority of his shifts assigned to the Spokane Valley.

“I actually worked here when it was unincorporated,” Assistant Chief Walter said. “Once it was incorporated and we got the police station, I think I spent eight years of patrol here before I got a different job…It was a plainclothes unit that was run out of downtown, but we serviced the Valley…called the Property Crimes Taskforce.”

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office partnered with the U.S. Marshals for the task force, and Assistant Chief Walter was even designated as a Special Deputy United States Marshal while working alongside a U.S. Marshal across the state of Washington. Walter eventually returned to patrol as a patrol corporal and later a detective specializing in information lead policing, or using crime hotspot data to solve community issues like chronic nuisance houses. He then returned back to the Spokane Valley patrol unit as a sergeant.

“I worked the night shift, and then I worked dayshift patrol, and then I was lucky enough to be selected as the administrative sergeant for the precinct,” he said. “You spend most of your time in the building; it’s the daily operations of the building…working with all the different entities to make sure this place runs…and then some law enforcement-related tasks.”

After spending some time serving as the administrative sergeant, Assistant Chief Walter decided to take the civil service test that allows him to qualify and promote to the rank of lieutenant and passed. It was right at this time he said the Assistant Chief position fell vacant, and he was placed in the running, went through the interview process, and was appointed to the position.

“One of my main jobs is precinct commander,” Walter said. “The (police) chief relies on me to run the precinct from a very broad perspective. When I was the administrative sergeant, I would do some of the lower-level tasks myself, but now it’s more about managing the different entities that make this place run and any conflict resolution needed to solve problems.”

Stepping into the new role, Assistant Chief Walter said his focus is to streamline the way the Spokane Valley Police Department operates by modernizing its practices and reorienting its focus on community-led policing efforts. Walter previously took on the task of streamlining some smaller things around the precinct while serving as the administrative sergeant and retooled some daily tasks at the lower level. Now in his new role, he wants the public to know their input is welcome and appreciated as they update the department.

“We value the public’s input on issues and to not…think that it’s going to be set aside,” Assistant Chief Walter said. “We’re always open to working with the community and very much so under the new sheriff administration…we really want to get back to community-oriented policing. Just being out there and engaging to figure out the problem and how to fix it from the people that are actually experiencing it.”

For now, Spokane Valley residents can find Assistant Chief Walter settling into his new role and attending community events like the upcoming twentieth anniversary of the incorporation of Spokane Valley, something Walter says he enjoys.

“In this job, I’m able to do more community events and interact with people, community members, and community entities more than I’ve ever been able to do; it’s been great,” Walter said. “It’s only been a little bit and I’ve already been to events and interacted with people and gotten their opinions about things…I’ve been to SCOPE-related functions, and then coffee with a cop, holidays with heroes.”