Longtime Ritzville Police Chief to retire Sept. 30

RITZVILLE — A first review of applications for the job of Ritzville Police Chief is scheduled for Sept. 3. Ritzville Mayor Scott Yaeger said there are three applicants.

The new chief will replace longtime Chief David McCormick, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

“My last day will be Sept. 30,” McCormick said, after extending that from his original retirement date of June 30.

Ritzville city officials have been looking for someone to work as interim chief, but so far, they’ve had no luck.

“Currently there are no for-sure candidates for interim chief,” Yaeger wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald.

McCormick said he has been with the department for 32 years.

“It’s time for somebody else to do that and bring in their own ideas,” McCormick said. “It’s just time.”

And after a lengthy law enforcement career, McCormick said it’s time to move on.

“I have other things I need to do,” he said.

Yeager said city officials have been having trouble finding a replacement, whether as an interim or for the permanent position.

Yaeger took over the mayor’s job in January; McCormick notified him in February of his intention to retire. Yaeger said the decision took him by surprise, but after a long law enforcement career, McCormick deserves to retire.

“The recruitment process for a new police chief is a difficult chore for many reasons,” Yaeger wrote.

City officials have been working with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to find suitable candidates, but that’s been a challenge, Yaeger wrote.

“It was apparent a couple of months into working with WASPC that securing qualified applicants (for police chief) is much harder than other careers,” he wrote. “By May I started to think of a backup plan, which meant hiring an interim chief.”

State law prohibited McCormick from retiring and then serving as an interim until a replacement was hired, Yaeger wrote. City officials found a candidate who was willing to take the interim job, but the candidate encountered some health problems and had to drop out. When that happened Yaeger said he asked McCormick to stay on temporarily.

McCormick agreed to stay on for 90 days. He knew it would be difficult to find a replacement but didn’t anticipate it would be this difficult, he said.

“I continue to contact surrounding law enforcement departments to search for all options for interim and replacement chiefs,” Yaeger wrote. “I have had many great conversations with and received great insight from the other chiefs, sheriffs and law enforcement officers.”

Looking back on his career McCormick said he’s served under six Ritzville mayors and with five Adams County Sheriffs.

“I couldn’t even begin to count how many council members,” he said.

McCormick said he owns farm acreage near Ritzville, already farms it part time and plans to keep farming. He’s a member of the Ritzville Fire Department and plans to stay there, he said.

“I’m going to spend more time in Montana with my grandkids,” he said.