Monroe Police Officers Guild

Homicide Investigation

Webmaster — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:14:16 +0000

MONROE – August 15th at 10:15 am: Monroe Police officers responded to a report of an unconscious female found in her apartment located in the Savoy building in the 100 block of W Main St in Monroe. Upon arrival officers found the victim, Angela Pettifer, a 36-year-old female from Monroe, deceased in her apartment. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner responded to the scene. The cause of death will not be released at this time pending further investigation. Next of kin has been notified.

Preliminary information indicates that Pettifer was in the downtown Monroe area Saturday night, August 14, 2010. Anyone who may have seen her that night or has additional information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Monroe Police Department at 360-794-6300. Anonymous information may be left on the Department’s tip line at 360-863-4600.

For additional information on this press release, contact Administrative Director Debbie Willis at 360-794-6300.

For a pdf copy of this press release to distribute, click here.

Juveniles Experiment with Explosives as seen on “You Tube”

Webmaster — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:27:52 +0000

MONROE – August 5, 2010 at 10:26 am: Officers received a report of fireworks in the 17500 block of 157th PL SE in Monroe. Upon arrival, officers observed several juveniles in a backyard of a residence. The juveniles had several plastic bottles that they were filling with toilet bowl cleaner “The Works” containing Hydrochloric acid and aluminum foil. They further observed them throw the bottles into the yard and explosions occurred. When contacted, the juveniles explained they were experimenting after seeing “You Tube” videos that showed how to make a toilet bowl cleaner bomb.

This incident involved seven juveniles, ages 17 and 16 of Monroe and Snohomish. No injuries were reported. Parents should be aware of the dangers involved in the mixing of these common household items. Charges are pending following review by the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office.

For additional information on this press release, contact Administrative Director Debbie Willis at 360-863-4579.

Support Your Local Police

Webmaster — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:11:34 +0000

For a pdf version that you can pass along to help support your local police, click here.

Citizen’s Call Comes in Time

Webmaster — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:14:27 +0000

MONROE – June 29, 2010 at 7:20 pm: Monroe Police Officers responded to a citizen’s call of strange noises coming from an apartment in the 300 block of Kelsey St. Within four minutes, officers arrived at the scene and heard the sound of a smoke alarm coming from an apartment. Upon entering the smoke filled apartment the officers found a semi-conscious elderly male on the floor. The officers were able to carry the male out of the apartment into fresh air. The source of the smoke came from food that was burning on the stove.

Monroe Fire District #3 responded and transported the 84-year-old male to Valley General Hospital for treatment.

The combination of a concerned citizen’s call and a quick response resulted in a life saved.

For additional information on this press release, contact Administrative Director Debbie Willis at 360-863-4579.

For a copy of the original pdf file of this release, click here.

K-9 retires after distinguished police career

Webmaster — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:17:00 +0000

So long, Brutus
K-9 retires after distinguished police career

Officer Ryan Irving has served with narcotics sniffing K9 Brutus since the dog came to work in Monroe in 2003. Brutus retired May 1.

Photo courtesy of the Monroe Police Department

Polly Keary
Editor

It’s not every cop who retires, but continues to share a house with his former partner.

But Brutus, a police narcotics dog that has worked on the Monroe force since 2003, will have a home with his handler Officer Ryan Irving until he goes on to his canine reward after his May 1 retirement.

It’s a fitting retirement for the dog, who started his career with Irving after undergoing training.

And although Irving had worked with narcotics dogs before, including in the police reserves before he started full-time in Monroe in 2000, Brutus was Irving’s first assigned K-9 partner.

As a narcotics dog, it was the black lab’s job to sniff out drugs and other contraband such as paraphernalia.

Brutus, working with Irving, had a distinguished career, said Administrative Director Debbie Willis.

“Their service together has brought a multitude of extensive narcotics finds and search warrants, seizing drugs based solely upon canine alerts by K9 Brutus,” she wrote. “Our agency has benefited greatly from their valuable teamwork and experience. We will miss Brutus and his true professionalism and drive.”

Brutus sniffed out evidence often, and once found two kilos of cocaine in a garage.

But his duties didn’t end there. He also did many demonstrations for school kids and at public events such as National Night Out Against Crime, searching out training tools in seconds to the astonishment of onlookers.

The work is hard on police dogs, though, said Irving.

“It takes a lot of exertion to go sniff around cars and people,” he said. “Their endurance goes down after a while.”

And so even though Brutus has only lived about half his expected life span, he has put in a full career in his seven years on the force.

“He’s starting to show his age,” said Irving. “He’s slowing down.”

One of the things that Irving enjoyed most about working with Brutus was seeing the dog’s enthusiasm for his work.

“It was seeing how excited he’d get just for a rolled towel,” said Irving. “That’s his toy. He’ll do anything for that towel.”

Brutus has always had more fun at work than at home, because that’s how handlers keep their dogs motivated. But now that Brutus is off the job, his home life includes more recreation now, said Irving.

Still, Brutus tries to get in the car every time Irving goes anywhere, he said.

And Irving misses having him.

“The hardest thing to get used to is not having him sitting in the back of the car,” he said.

Now Brutus’ old car is in use again for a new K9 unit that has joined the force, and the Monroe Rotary Club is in the midst of a fund-raising campaign called K9 Crusade, to help outfit the car with the equipment needed for K9 use.

But Irving will not get a new dog himself.

He has been promoted, and no longer will work with K9s.

So it will still be Irvng and Brutus, only now, it will be all play and no work for the partners.

“He’ll stay with me and be my pet,” said Irving.

This article originally appeared in the Monroe Monitor & Valley News and can be viewed by clicking here.

Leukemia Cup Regatta

Webmaster — Thu, 20 May 2010 15:18:30 +0000

MONROE – For the 5th consecutive year Monroe Police Officers Ken Sahlstrom, Reid Weaver, and Rick Dunn along with his son Callahan Dunn, a 16-year-old leukemia survivor, and in memory of sons Jon Sahlstrom and Jackson Weaver, will be sailing the ZEPHYR in the 16th annual Leukemia Cup Regatta. The Regatta will take place at the Elliott Bay Marina in Seattle, WA on June 12th, 2010 beginning at 12:00 pm.

The Leukemia Cup Regatta is an event hosted by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Their mission is to “cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Seventy four percent of their total expenses support cancer research, education, advocacy and patient services. The Society has dedicated itself to being one of the top-rated voluntary health agencies in terms of dollars that directly fund our mission.” Sponsorship of the ZEPHYR contributes to the search to find a cure for blood cancers. Those wishing to make a donation can send a check to Leukemia & Lymphoma Society c/o the Monroe Police Department, 818 West Main, Monroe, WA 98272.

“Please help raise a sail to fight leukemia.”

For additional information on this media release, contact Administrative Director Debbie Willis
at 360-794-6300. For a pdf copy of this release, click here.

Canine Officer Retirement

Webmaster — Thu, 20 May 2010 15:11:31 +0000

MONROE – On May 1, 2010, Monroe Police K9 Brutus officially retired ending seven years of
service with the Monroe Police Department.

K9 Brutus, a black Labrador retriever trained in narcotics detection, joined the Monroe Police Department in March of 2003 and was assigned to partner Ryan Irving. Their service together has brought a multitude of extensive narcotics finds and search warrants, seizing drugs based solely upon canine alerts by K9 Brutus. Our agency has benefited greatly from their valuable teamwork and experience. We will miss Brutus and his true professionalism and drive.

The Monroe Police Department congratulates K9 Brutus on an outstanding career and wishes him a happy retirement!

For additional information on this media release, contact Administrative Director Debbie Willis at 360-794-6300.

For a pdf copy of this press release, click here.

Local dealership donates a car to K-9 police dog program

Webmaster — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:06:46 +0000

The Monroe Police Dog program has struggled for lack of funding recently, and so the local rotary club took on the challenge to raise money to supply the department with dogs and equipment in an effort they call the "K-9 Crusade." One Rotarian picked up the challenge in a big way; Tod Johnson, of Monroe's Speedway Chevrolet, along with Ken Wheadon, have pledged to donate a car to the department.

    The Monroe Rotary Club’s effort to fund the Monroe Police Department’s K-9 program got a big boost last week, with the announcement that Speedway Chevrolet will donate a car.
   ”It will probably be a late model Impala,” said Tod Johnson, who with Ken Wheadon of Speedway Chevrolet decided to donate the car. “That’s they type of car they are looking for, that they can easily convert to K-9 use.”
   The car will be will be outfitted with a cage in the back, rifle mounts, special temperature controls for the safety of the animals and more.
   The Monroe Rotary Club has undertaken a fundraising effort called the K-9 Crusade underway to help restore the city’s police dog program to fully-staffed.
   In 2008, the department had four police dogs, including two narcotics dogs and two trackers. One tracking dog, Biz, died recently. And both narcotics dogs are slated to retire.
   Replacing the animals is very expensive, not only because the dogs themselves are costly, but because officer training is time consuming, and because the equipment and cars associated with the program are expensive.
   The Rotary Club set a fundraising goal of $150,000 for the program. But with the donation of the car, that goal can be reduced.
   Before the car can be donated, the club will have to raise the funds to outfit it, though.
   It will need lights, sirens, rifle mounts, a cage, a computer and temperature controls, among other things.
   ”The equipment runs somewhere around $10,000,” said Commander Steve Clopp of the Monroe Police Department.
   The car comes at a good time; the department just acquired a replacement for one of the retiring narcotics dogs.
   The dog, a female German shepherd named Lexi, just completed training and is getting used to her new home in Monroe.
   Her handler is Nate Erdman. Right now, she is using a car ordinarily used by another dog that is working elsewhere at the moment.
   The new car is a surprising and welcome gift, said Clopp.
   ”It was a very generous donation, especially in lean economic times,” said Clopp.
   Times are lean, said Johnson, but they have improved enough lately to allow the business to do some community-minded things.
   ”For two years we had to give up a lot of that,” he said. “But sales, while they aren’t to the point they were before, they are to the point where we can get back to our priorities, and give back to our employees some of the things we had to take away, and give back to our community.”
   Johnson said he is glad to be able to help out with the K-9 Crusade.
   ”We’re excited to be a part of it,” he said.

by Polly Keary, Editor
(This article originally appeared in the Monroe Monitor & Valley News on April 27th, 2010)
(To visit the website the article appeared in, click here)

Zumba K-9 Krusade Friday 4/23 6pm

Webmaster — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:22:34 +0000

Support your K9 unit with a local fund raiser and meet your Dogs!

Come see what the magic is all about and dance with local Zumba Instructors for a great cause!

Prizes, raffles & refreshments – Friday April 23rd 6-8pm at Park Place Middle School, Monroe WA

Click here for a flyer you can print, distribute and get the word out!

Tip-A-Cop for Special Olympics on March 24th

Webmaster — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:40:14 +0000

Tip-A-Cop

MONROE – On Wednesday, March 24th, the Monroe Police Department will be participating in the 2010 “Tip a Cop” campaign benefiting Washington Special Olympics. Once again, Tim Kovach, owner of The Sailfish Bar & Grill, 104 N Lewis Street, will allow Monroe Police Officers and Staff to take on roles of waiters, hostesses and busers for this annual fundraiser that will be held from 5:00 – 10:00 pm. Donations will be accepted during this time with 100% of all monies collected remaining in Snohomish County benefiting Special Olympians here.

Reservations are encouraged for this popular event, and may be made by calling The Sailfish Bar & Grill at 360-794-4056. Those wishing to make a donation, but unable to attend can still donate by sending a check to Washington Special Olympics c/o the Monroe Police Department, 818 West Main, Monroe, WA 98272.

For additional information on this press release, contact Administrative Director Debbie Willis 360-863-4579.

For a pdf copy of this release click here.