Officer Sherar leaves post after 7 years
Like everything else that happens at COPS Northeast substation, Bonnie Sherar’s last day as the substation’s neighborhood resource officer was a good reason to have a potluck.
Volunteers from the COPS shop, friends and neighbors in Hillyard gathered on Dec. 2 to honor Sherar and thank her for her seven years of service.
Because of city budget issues, the NRO program is going through some changes, and Sherar will be returning to patrol duty.
COPS shops will now share police officers who will work as teams, one team of three on the North Side and a team on the South Side.
Lynn Weiler has been a volunteer at COPS Northeast since it opened in 1993. She said the changes will mean that volunteers will have more responsibilities. COPS shops are always looking for more volunteers, and now the need will be greater.
Sherar, 47, is a Shadle Park High School graduate and has her master’s degree in secondary education from Eastern Washington University. She’s also coached swimming and as a teenager was a lifeguard at the Hillyard Pool. But instead of a teaching career, she followed in her late father’s footsteps and became a police officer.
Weiler said that Sherar has been instrumental in several neighborhood projects including the newly acquired Hillyard Train, a 14-foot-tall by 20-foot-long inflatable train that symbolizes Hillyard’s Great Northern train community. The train will be part of upcoming festivals and events in Hillyard.
Sherar also got neighbors together for projects like the annual Holiday Festival, Pet Pictures with Santa, and the Santa Christmas Shop. She has encouraged “no agenda” meetings/potlucks so that neighbors and business owners could get to know each other.
One of Sherar’s early projects was to help organize a project to clean up and fix up the Martindale Apartments at 5313 N. Regal. The rundown building attracted drug addicts and was a source of constant police calls. Changes to the apartments meant changes in the tenants and now the number of police calls each year equals what they used to get in a month, Sherar said.
“Bonnie always goes out of her way to help people. All of Hillyard has benefited from her being here. People know each other now. She’s there for everybody,” said Kathy Nett, a volunteer and the secretary at COPS Northeast.
This really isn’t a final goodbye.
“I’ve turned in an application to become a volunteer here at the COPS shop. I wonder which one of the volunteers is going to interview me,” said Sherar.
Sherar said that Dan Waters will be the team police officer assigned to COPS Northeast. “He’ll be well liked by the volunteers. He’s fun and he has a great sense of humor.”
Sounds like a good reason to have a potluck.