Sheriff’s Lieutenant Seeks Top Job Finke, 23-Year Veteran Of Department, Supports Community-Oriented Policing

A graveyard shift commander chose the bright light of high noon Monday to announce his candidacy for Spokane County sheriff.

Sheriff’s Lt. Jim Finke launched his campaign near the Spokane County Courthouse in the company of about 20 relatives and friends.

Finke, a Democrat, will take on Republican Mark Sterk, a state representative who jumped into the race in June. Current Sheriff John Goldman, a Democrat, said last week he won’t seek re-election in 1998.

Finke praised Goldman’s work and promised to continue his boss’s efforts in three areas: community-oriented policing, spreading Sheriff’s Department resources around the county and creating a citizens advisory panel.

Finke said he wants to decentralize the department “instead of having everything in the middle of downtown Spokane.”

However, Finke doesn’t follow Goldman in supporting a handgun-control initiative that will be on the ballot this November.

Initiative 676 would require people to take eight hours of safety training and obtain a license before owning a handgun. It also would require every handgun sold or given away in Washington to be equipped with a trigger lock.

The initiative intrudes into citizens’ privacy and gives law officers new duties without additional funding, Finke said.

Gun safety is about personal responsibility, not government regulation, he said.

Born and raised in Spokane, Finke repeatedly noted that he has worked for the Sheriff’s Department for 23-1/2 years.

“I’m kind of like a hometown boy,” he said.

Finke has been a patrol deputy, traffic sergeant, detective, SWAT team member and hostage negotiator, and he played a principal role in the first Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Enforcement efforts. SCOPE aims to increase public involvement in fighting crime with citizen patrols through neighborhoods.

Finke has been a graveyard shift commander for 18 months. He also is manager of the K-9 unit and the field officer training program. In January, he plans to go to the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Va., for training.

Finke’s opponent already has won the support of the county corrections officers union. Sterk is a Spokane police officer with 22 years of experience.

Finke said he has spoken with members of the union and is confident that “once they get to know me, they will be more interested in having me as sheriff.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONTENDERS Jim Finke, a Democrat, will take on Republican Mark Sterk, a state representative.