By Matthew Nash
Olympic Peninsula News Group
SEQUIM — The title of Sequim Police Chief was made official for veteran officer Sheri Crain in front of a packed house in council chambers at the civic center.
Family, friends, dignitaries, fellow police officers and retired Police Chief Bill Dickinson were in attendance to see Sequim’s first woman police chief sworn in Friday.
Crain, Sequim’s former deputy police chief, was honored by Sequim City Manager Charlie Bush and sworn in by City Clerk Karen Kuznek-Reese. Crain’s husband Pat pinned on her new badge.
Bush said many people are polarized on a lot of issues today as tragedies continue to happen and Sequim needs “good people in place in the police department like Crain.”
“We have full confidence in her,” Bush said. “Sheri has the support of the whole department.”
He added that she is well-matched for handling changing technology and the speed of new information while showing empathy because “she feels very deeply for people.”
Crain, 50, was appointed police chief Dec. 5 by Bush. She began work at the Sequim Police Department on Feb. 26, 1991, and carried several positions through her tenure.
She completed the 10-week Federal Bureau of Investigations Academy in 2013 and was appointed deputy chief that same year by Dickinson.
Crain previously said her plan was always to pursue a career in justice because she “always had a strong feeling of right and wrong from an early age.”
She moved here with her husband in 1989, working some odd jobs before she was hired at Sequim Police Department at age 24.
Dickinson, who officially retired Dec. 15, was hired as police chief Sept. 7, 2010, by retired Sequim City Manager Steve Burkett over 60 candidates including Crain, the runner-up.
However, Crain previously said Burkett and Dickinson established the past six years as a mentorship for the position, which Bush honored by hiring Crain without an interview process.
Now, she manages 19 commissioned officers and three civilians in the police department.
In the coming year, she plans to work on a five-year strategic plan, seek more professional development for staff and make decisions on a new deputy chief and other positions.
For more information on the Sequim Police Department, visit www.sequimwa.gov or call 360-683-7227.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
A full crowd inside the Sequim City Council’s chambers gives new police chief Sheri Crain a standing ovation after she was sworn into office on Friday, Dec. 16. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
Pat Crain pins the Sequim police chief badge on his wife Sheri after she was sworn into office on December 16. Sequim City Manager Charlie Bush, left, chose her without an interview process following the retirement of Bill Dickinson earlier in December. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
