Accept sheriff’s offer

I am a county resident, and thieves in my community know that if they steal my stuff, the Sheriff’s Department will sic a dedicated property crimes detective on them. If I lived inside the city of Spokane, just the opposite would be true.

Despite massive budget cuts and many forced layoffs, Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has managed to keep the promise “to serve and protect” more than just a motto.

On Nov. 17, The Spokesman-Review reported that the sheriff has offered to fill in (for free) as the interim chief of the beleaguered Spokane Police Department until a new chief is found or, as some have proposed, the two agencies merge.

Knezovich has already proved himself an extraordinarily capable agency leader and manager. He is also adept at finding those who possess the leadership abilities to manage the many Sheriff’s Department subdivisions such as SWAT, bomb disposal, air patrol, cyber crime, etc. Taking under his wing the leadership and management of the SPD would merely be like adding another subdivision, albeit a large one, to the Sheriff’s Department.

The folks who live in the city would do well to accept the sheriff’s offer.

Patrick M. Reeves

Cheney