After going as far as he could in the Washington State Patrol without leaving Kitsap County, Steve Boyer ran for, and was elected, Sheriff two years ago. He took over a department that was seriously fragmented by politically motivated lawsuits against former Sheriff Pat Jones by disgruntled deputies, simmering union troubles due to a long-overdue labor agreement with the county and perpetual understaffing — a serious problem that continues today.

Complicating the situation politically was the fact Boyer defeated Jones’ right-hand man and hopeful successor, Mike Davis in the primary election. Davis had been appointed interim sheriff when Jones was granted disability leave and by all accounts, including Boyer’s, he is more than qualified to be Kitsap’s top cop. Today Davis serves as Boyer’s chief of detectives and supports the efforts of the Sheriff.

But a public that was weary of hearing and reading about the lawsuits and the out of court settlements the taxpayers were funding elected Boyer, a personable, and very able lawman, to reshape, rebuild and reunite the department.

How has he done? If an informal, unscientific survey of people coming in and out of the courthouse and a random sampling of deputies is any indication, he has been just what the doctor ordered.

Boyer is perhaps the most accessible of all our elected officials. He readily speaks anywhere he’s asked and gives out his direct phone number. Although he quickly deflects any praise to his department heads and the officers in the field, Boyer’s been a one-man public relations department on a mission to restore respect to the department and its people.

In a free-wheeling, three hour interview that covered a myriad of subjects, Boyer and his right-hand man, Dennis Bonneville, talked about where Kitsap’s cop shop is heading.

KBJ: What is the biggest challenge facing the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office?
Boyer: “Developing the people who will run the department in the future — developing their leadership skills, getting them to interact with the community. They have a really good foundation now, it’s just a case of polishing the gems, you might say.”
KBJ: It’s no secret the department was in disarray when you took over. How close to accurate was your original assessment of the problems?
Boyer: “I had a basic understanding of the problems, and what improvements could be made. But what really impressed me was the quality of the people we have here and how they rose to the challenges. They had better ideas than I did in many instances on how to improve things. They were all dedicated to making this a great department.”
KBJ: What is the next biggest challenge?
Boyer: “Finding the resources to do what we need to do, Public safety is important — people aren’t going to move here or locate businesses here if it isn’t safe. Law enforcement takes a narrow view of its role, but if you take a broader view, you have to look at how we maximize our delivery of services to the citizens. We’re just like a business, we have to think about customer service — how do we maximize our delivery of public safety?”
KBJ: How do you see that happening?
Boyer: “We’re in the process of developing a local sheriff’s and police chiefs association to coordinate delivery of police services, eliminate duplication, reduce costs and develop a blueprint of law enforcement in Kitsap County for the future.”
KBJ: Can you give me some examples of how it will work?
Boyer: “Some of the smaller cities simply don’t have the resources, like crime scene teams, SWAT teams, search and rescue, marine patrol and the like. We have all that, and it simply makes sense for us to handle some of that work. They help us in other ways, sort of an exchange. But we include representatives from the other departments on things like the drug task force, marine patrol, bicycle patrols, the K9 units share dogs and a number of other things like that.”
KBJ: What is the single largest issue you’re devoting resources to?
Boyer: “It’s a combination of things, but we have to find a mechanism to prioritize our 911 calls, so we can address some of the root causes of crime. We get 90,000 calls from CenCom a year. Sometimes we’re a victim of our own success. You call 911, you get law enforcement. However, we don’t have unlimited resources and in the next few years, we have some decisions to make. Perhaps we’ll utilize technology such as computer based reporting and call takers for non-emergency responses. It just doesn’t make sense for a highly trained police officer to go out to just to fill out a report form on a barking dog.”
KBJ: Is there a way to use the internet for computer-based reporting?
Boyer: “Yes. We have a secure server so people can go online and fill in the blanks. This saves the taxpayers money because there’s no manpower involved. The officers on duty can do the investigative aspects of the job rather than the clerical.”
KBJ: Isn’t there already a volunteer program in place to help with some of the clerical and other duties?
Boyer: “Yes the is. My goal is to expand our existing volunteer program which consists of disabled parking patrol, Explorer program and reserve deputy program, to name a few, to include citizen patrols, volunteer assistance units for follow up and more.”
KBJ: How do you plan on implementing the expansion?
Boyer: “We have to move at realistic pace. We don’t want to get people in here and not have anything for them to do. We’re not actively recruiting yet, but you will see it in 2001. We’re currently in the process of screening a volunteer coordinator who will help run this program. Kitsap Mall has offered us a space in the mall to run the program from. Chuck Wheeler, who is the former undersheriff, is now head of security there and has been extremely supportive in working to help with this. We can put on safety classes in the mall, the Clerk’s office can partner with us for restraining orders, we can implement neighborhood watch programs, etc. It’s a convenient place for people, and parking isn’t a problem. If we want to reach the people, we have to go where the people are.”
KBJ: How much of your resources are you devoting to drug enforcement?
Boyer: “It’s well established that 80 percent of all crime has a drug or alcohol connection. We’re looking at how to improve the ratio. We’re adding a person to WESTNET, even though we don’t have a grant for that. We’re establishing a criminal interdiction team next year — if the commissioners authorize the people. They will essentially be tactical squad to address drug and weapon problems. They’ll saturate an area that may be experiencing a lot of burglaries or having other crime problems, vandalism for example.”
KBJ: Is drug-related crime up or down?
Boyer: “I don’t have the statistics for 2000 yet, but it seems to me we’re making progress. But now is not the time to reduce our diligence in addressing it. Overall, crime in general is down, but methanphetamine use, and the crime that it generates, such as meth labs, and theft by meth users is on the rise. Other crimes like mail theft, fraud and burglary have increased to support the meth addiction of the users. There’s also an entire generation that doesn’t have the ingrained fear of heroin that previous generations did and we’re seeing more and more of it.”
KBJ: What drugs beside meth and heroin are causing major problems?
Boyer: “We’re concerned about the young people’s use of GHB — Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, the “date rape” drug. It’s also called Ecstasy. It’s odorless and colorless. It can be slipped into a drink and people don’t remember what happened after they wake up. The deputies are seeing more and more of it out in the field, and hearing more about it. Harrison is also reporting more cases of treatment of it. Ketamine, a drug used by veterinarians and rohypnol are also considered “date rape” drugs, which we’re seeing more of as well.”
KBJ: Is there any good news in all this?
Boyer: “Yes. There isn’t any user that’s going to come in and throw up his hands and say, ‘Here I am,’ but once there is some kind of crisis in a users life — like getting arrested — they seek or are required to get treatment to avoid jail. Judge Jay Roof in Poulsbo has been instrumental in promoting an alternative and comprehensive approach to treatment with his drug court. There’s numerous success stories from people who have gone through it. It’s not just another easy way out of jail, it’s an intensive and demanding program that really works.”
KBJ: What’s the worse crime area in Kitsap County?
Boyer: “We get the most calls for service in Central Kitsap, but that includes everything from barking dogs to domestic disputes, and that has to do with the urban character of the area. As far as actual crime, most of the calls we get are south of Bremerton. The north end is the lowest. To address that, we’re moving towards crime mapping so we allocate our resources to when and where crimes occur. The second initiative is that we’ve assigned supervisors to specific geographic sectors of the county. Each supervisor has responsibility and authority for addressing problems in their areas. We’re having good success already with that program because it allows us to develop one-on-one relationships with the people in the community.”
KBJ: What’s the future of law enforcement in Kitsap County?
Boyer: “I’m really optimistic. I think it’s going to be a safer place to live. I think the citizens are going to look with pride upon their law enforcement agencies. We should explore some consolidations of some agencies like has been done in some other jurisdictions — if it makes sense for the taxpayers.”
KBJ: Will consolidation work?
Boyer: “I think it’s achievable if we earn the trust and respect of the citizens. And we’re working hard to do that — very hard.”.