Ozzie Knezovich
A candidate for Spokane County Sheriff, Spokane County in the 2014 Aug. 5 Washington Primary Election
Party: Republican
Age: 61
City: Western Spokane County, Wash.
Occupation: Spokane County sheriff
OZZIE KNEZOVICH
Education: Graduated from Rock Springs High School in Wyoming. Graduated from Weber State College with an integrated studies bachelor’s degree in 1985.
Work experience: Became town marshal in Superior, Wyoming in 1990. Joined Rock Springs, Wyoming police force in 1991. Joined Olympia Police Department in 1995. Joined Spokane County Sheriff’s Office as deputy in 1996. Became sergeant in 2004. Appointed Spokane County sheriff by county commissioners in 2006 and won election to the post in November of that year. Re-elected while unopposed in 2010.
Political experience: Former president of the Spokane County Deputy Sheriff’s Association. Former president of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Named to the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Association in 2008. Served as president of that group in 2012.
Military: U.S. Army airborne medical specialist and combat medic, served in Korea, 1987-90.
Family: Married, three grown children.
Contact information
Race Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Ozzie Knezovich (R) | 64,435 | 72.25% |
| Doug Orr (R) | 24,748 | 27.75% |
Related Coverage
Spokane police Chief Frank Straub gets candid about cameras
Law enforcement in Spokane County is about to enter a new era in which almost all interactions between officers and citizens will be recorded. It’s an era sparked in Spokane largely by concern over officer misconduct and a federal trial of an officer that ended in his prison sentence. Still, experts say recording will help police by gathering evidence and protecting them from false accusations.
Deputy’s firing challenged
A dispute over the firing of a Spokane County deputy caught having sex on duty has increased tensions between Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and his force. The Spokane County Deputy Sheriffs Association has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the sheriff for what it contends is a violation of the fired deputy’s rights under the collective bargaining contract.
Doug Clark: Race for sheriff is debate-intensive
DOUG’S SHERIFF’S DEBATE DIARY: Wednesday, 4:57 p.m. – We’re an hour and counting away from OZ vs. ORR I, the first debate* between Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and his opponent, Douglas Orr, a Spokane detective with a Ph.D. in criminal justice.
Washington Senate hearing considers crime bills
OLYMPIA – The state could have new ways to crack down on some of Spokane’s biggest crime problems like car theft and repeat burglars, as well as take early aim at the “knockout” assault fad through a trio of bills considered by a Senate panel Wednesday. At times, the Senate Law and Justice Committee hearing seemed to come straight from the Spokane police blotter, with bills sponsored by Chairman Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, and endorsed by Spokane law enforcement officials to fight local problems.
Abortion cited as crime drop factor by sheriff candidate Orr
A candidate for Spokane County sheriff has offered a provocative explanation for a drop in the U.S. crime rate starting in the early 1990s: legalized abortion. Douglas Orr, a Spokane police detective running as a Republican, is seeking to unseat Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich in this year’s election.
Spokane city-county dispatch systems outdated, sheriff says
Computer equipment used to dispatch law-enforcement officers in Spokane County is 20 to 25 years old. Replacing that equipment with a 21st-century computer system cannot happen soon enough, as far as Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich is concerned.
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, wife sustain minor injuries in car accident
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich was rear-ended in an unmarked car on Thursday evening, the Sheriff’s Office said. A pickup truck struck Knezovich’s unmarked car from behind just after 6 p.m. at a stop sign at the intersection of Havana Street and Third Avenue. The sheriff and his wife, a passenger in the car, experienced pain and were taken to the hospital as a precaution. The Sheriff’s Office said the couple’s injuries did not appear to be serious.
Shawn Vestal: Jail better off under Knezovich – even critics should admit it
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has a reputation as a straight shooter. But was he shooting straight when he claimed that his jail staffers had developed programs that reduced repeat offenses and added alternatives to incarceration? Knezovich’s political opponents – a group of disgruntled former deputies opposed to the sheriff’s hard line on discipline – asked the county to provide the evidence for the sheriff’s claim, in a news release eight months ago, that rehabilitation-oriented community-corrections programs had done just that.
Spokane 911 call abusers may face jail time under new ordinance
Stop calling 911 for baking advice. Using the emergency line in Spokane for anything other than to “report a situation that requires prompt service in order to preserve or protect human life or health or property” is now outlawed. Spokane City Council members approved the new ordinance Monday night, and violators could be jailed for up to three months.