Justin Lundgren joins sheriff’s office after seven months as interim Spokane Police Chief

After 27 years at the Spokane Police Department, interim Chief Justin Lundgren is leaving.

But he isn’t going far – just across the hall.

Lundgren, 49, is hoping his new job managing the officers who patrol the unincorporated areas of Spokane County for the sheriff’s office will give him a better work-life balance than the responsibility of leading SPD for the past seven months.

He stepped into the interim chief’s role when Craig Meidl announced his retirement late last year. With eight children at home, Lundgren always knew the job would be temporary, he said.

When Kevin Hall was selected to lead the department permanently last month, Lundgren already had a job offer from Sheriff John Nowels.

The men served as second in command at their respective departments at the same time and had many conversations about their jobs and philosophies, Lundgren said.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions on the things that are important in the community that relate to law enforcement,” Lundgren said. “And I think we share similar values and kind of similar perspectives.”

The move is the perfect way to still support Hall while not being a distraction, Lundgren said.

“I look forward to getting to know (Hall) better over the coming weeks and months. It’s really nice that I’m going to be right here locally, just really across the hall,” Lundgren said. “So I want to be an asset to the department and help him to be as successful as he possibly can.”

Hall is extremely qualified, Lundgren said, and probably has his own ideas about the future of the department but Lundgren is ready to give advice if asked.

“Anything he asked my advice on, I’ll give him my honest opinion,” he said.

During his brief tenure in the role, Lundgren led the department through a rash of police shootings and a looming budget crisis at the city.

He took the approach of more information is better, Lundgren said.

“The worst thing that can happen is to not provide any information at all, because then people start making decisions based on what they imagined the situation to be,” he said of the budget crisis.

The same goes for Hall, an outsider to Spokane, stepping in to lead the department. Lundgren has encouraged younger officers to ask questions of more senior officers who have been through a change in leadership and budget crises before.

He gives credit to the entire command staff for keeping the department stable during this transitional period.

“I think it was all of us as a leadership team, saying we’re gonna get through the transition. We’ve gone through chief selections before and it’s going to be all right,” Lundgren said. “We’re going to bring somebody in, and they’re going to make their mark on the department. And, and it’s kind of, I have to say, it’s kind of exciting.”