Bragdon proud of the force he served

If Roger Bragdon had been the Spokane Police chief when he was hired in 1973, he probably would have fired the younger incarnation of himself.

“I was a very aggressive police officer,” Bragdon said entering his last day as a cop after 32 years. “I think somebody counted once that there was nine cars that I crashed. They were all in pursuits. We don’t allow that now.”

Bragdon, 57, ended his career Friday the way it started – in a patrol car.

His unlikely rise to chief of the Inland Northwest’s largest law enforcement agency ended with him acknowledging that he could no longer give a full effort to a job that morphed from catching criminals to fighting city officials for more money.

“I didn’t foresee the budget problems, which started almost immediately in 2001,” Bragdon said. “Of course by the 2005 budget, it became a crisis. Every single waking moment was battling for resources or battling to keep resources.”

Budget problems forced an end to numerous programs and prompted Bragdon to eliminate 20 support positions and the jobs of 25 commissioned officers over the past two years. Many of those officers had recently listened to Bragdon’s speeches welcoming them to a new way of life in the support of the law enforcement family.

“Then I have to stand in front of them and say, ‘Well. I was wrong,’ ” Bragdon said. “I will look at those as my darkest days.”

Bragdon was among the original wave of officers hired by the city to bolster police ranks in advance of Expo ‘74. He worked his way up through the department and is a widely recognized expert on patrol procedures, officer survival, SWAT procedure, and anti-terrorism and hostage situation training.

But Bragdon never obtained a college degree, which was a requirement for all city department heads. Despite that, outgoing Chief Terry Mangan lobbied city officials in 1998 to hire Bragdon as chief.

They appointed Bragdon interim chief but eliminated him from the search that eventually hired outsider Alan Chertok. He came to Spokane with two master’s degrees and a Fulbright fellowship, but quit nine months later under pressure.

Then in 2000, the city hired Bragdon as chief along with a written agreement that he would obtain the degree. Bragdon never did. After questions were raised in 2003, the city waived the requirement.

Also in 2003, Bragdon’s support among the rank-and-file – his closest allies for years – suffered a major setback.

Bragdon lost credibility with many officers when he wrote a letter asking for leniency for a former sheriff’s deputy, Jim Crabtree, who nearly killed another deputy in a crash and was then caught dealing drugs before his sentencing on the vehicular assault charge. Jim Crabtree is the son of former police Capt. Chuck Crabtree.

“I went around and talked to the troops because I knew they were pretty upset,” Bragdon said. “I said, ‘I hope someday that if you need help that the chief of police or anybody … won’t be afraid to do the right thing.’ “

It was Chuck Crabtree who almost ended Bragdon’s career before it could get started, he said.

“Chuck was one of my early supervisors who went absolutely nuts because I was crashing so many cars,” Bragdon said.

Bragdon credited the measured leadership of his mentor, Dave Peffer, for keeping Bragdon from getting fired. “He had the courage to take on people like me,” Bragdon said of Peffer. “I was not easy to supervise.”

Initially, Bragdon was happy to work as a graveyard shift patrol officer. “And in between Mangan and my wife, I was coerced into the upper ranks – sometimes tricked,” he said.

Bragdon’s wife, Amy, who recently retired from the West Valley School District, pushed Bragdon into every promotion, he said.

In the early 1990s, Bragdon was going to test for captain but didn’t own a suit. Amy Bragdon purchased him the suit, which is now known simply as the Captain Suit.

“I still own it to this day,” Bragdon said. “I don’t wear it very often.”

“What makes me feel kind of stupid … here I argue with my wife over every promotion and yet I didn’t have the brains to just flunk the tests,” he said.

Despite setbacks with the troops once he reached the chief’s office, and worsening morale, Bragdon continued to enjoy support from many within the department.

Detective Jan Pogachar praised Bragdon, who served as her first shift commander some 20 years ago.

“I’m sad to see him leave,” she said. “I felt very comfortable having him drive the bus while he was here.”

Assistant Chief Jim Nicks will run the department until a permanent replacement is selected.

Nicks, 48, came to the force in 1982 and has served the last five years as assistant chief. He said he obtained a degree in 2000 from Columbia Southern University, an online school based in Orange Beach, Ala.

“I think my first challenge is getting this department a little more engaged with the community,” Nicks said. “Budget problems have pushed us into a reactive mode out of necessity. But we need to get re-engaged with the community so that the officers can see the support is there.”

Acting Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession said he plans to decide quickly on a replacement for Bragdon. However, he has yet to decide whether to hire Nicks or open the $140,000-a-year job to applicants from outside the department.

Bragdon said hiring a chief from outside Spokane would be a roll of the dice because outside applicants would not know the officers, the department or the community.

“I’ll stand up Jim Nicks or (Deputy Chief) Al Odenthal against any applicant who comes from any place,” Bragdon said. “A national search would be a waste of time and money.”

Bragdon said he doesn’t know how he will be remembered.

“I want to be remembered as a cop,” he said. “I get a lot of pats on the back for being a great chief. But actually what this is, is a great department and I just happened to be chief at the time.”

Between meetings and a ceremony for other retiring officers Friday, Bragdon spent his last day in a patrol car.

Asked if he planned to crash his 10th car, Bragdon replied. “No. They won’t let me drive.”