Winlock Chief Gives First Update Since Appointment

Although the Winlock Police Department became an independent agency earlier than anyone expected, the department is now fully operational.

According to Winlock Chief of Police Stephen Valentine, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office handled in-progress calls until Thursday, July 5. However, he said as of July 5, Winlock Police Department was fully operational.

“We met last week and just talked about Winlock Police Department,” Valentine said of Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza. “Just things in general — lots of different things, but I’m not going to comment on that meeting.”

The Toledo Police Department previously provided law enforcement services to Winlock through an interlocal agreement. However, Winlock Mayor Don Bradshaw pushed to terminate the contract early, instead of letting it expire at the end of the year.

Both city councils approved a mediation settlement agreement with a transition period that could last until August 15. However, the transition ended sooner than expected after Winlock reinstated its police department and appointed a chief. As of July 1, Toledo stopped providing law enforcement services to Winlock.

Valentine did not wish to comment on what Winlock Police Department’s patrol hours currently are. However, he noted that he is on call 24/7.

“Winlock’s current coverage is me,” Valentine said.

At the Winlock City Council’s Monday night meeting, Valentine gave his first law enforcement update since he was appointed as chief of police.

None of the council members, nor Bradshaw, commented on Toledo’s unexpectedly early withdrawal during the mayor and council comments. However, Bradshaw noted after Valentine’s address that all requests for police should go to 911 and that dispatch will forward them appropriately.

“We’re getting things going,” Valentine said when he addressed the council. “No law enforcement issues thus far.”

Valentine is currently in the process of hiring a second officer and said his timeline is to hire one as quickly as possible.

Although there was only one public comment, it involved Winlock Police Department.

Dennis Williams advocated for Winlock to participate in “National Night Out,” which is an annual community building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships.

“The main thing now is to introduce the chief to the city,” Williams said.

The national event takes place on August 7, excluding Texas, which celebrates it on the first Tuesday in October. Valentine said that although he supports the idea, he isn’t sure if there is time to prepare for the event.

“I think this National Night Out is a great idea,” Valentine said after the meeting. “I just don’t know if we are going to have the time to set it up. I don’t know if there is going to be time to do that because it is less than a month away already.”

During the city council meeting, April Pennington, who is planning an event for Club Tavern, sought approval for a temporary beer garden in front of the bar. The beer garden would be on NE 1st Street in front of the Club Tavern on July 21 and the event would involve fencing off a piece of the street in front of the bar.

Bradshaw said Pennington needed approval from Valentine before bringing her request to city council, but she noted that Winlock Police Department didn’t exist when she started planning for the event.

“Coverage for the event will be tricky with one officer,” Valentine said.

Councilmember Dennis Korpi said he didn’t believe the chief would have a problem and that there would also be security inside the bar. Councilmember Connie Sneed also voiced her approval. The council approved Pennington’s request, with the caveat that Valentine approves it as well.

Valentine said in an interview after the meeting that he does not have a timeline for when he will approve or deny