Having already served as a patrol officer for the Centralia Police Department, Chad Withrow was officially sworn in as a sergeant during Tuesday night’s Centralia City Council meeting.
Police Chief Stacy Denham introduced Withrow to the council.
A Centralia local, Withrow served in the U.S. Army from 1995 to 1998 after graduating from Centralia High School. After being honorably discharged, he studied at Centralia College and then Evergreen State College where he earned his bachelor's degree in hydrology and geology.
“After graduation, he worked here locally before going into law enforcement,” Denham said.
Withrow originally joined the department as a reserve officer. He served as a commissioned police officer in Napavine in 2008 and with Chehalis Tribal Police in 2009 before finally accepting a full-time position with Centralia at the end of 2009.
“Since then, he’s done a plethora of things. He’s been involved in our SWAT team, he’s been a defensive tactics instructor, he was assigned to JNET (Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team) and did a lot of work in JNET as a detective,” said Denham.
He added Withrow had also stepped up to lead on road patrols as CPD has been facing short staffing issues.
“He gave up his days off with his family just so he could help out and help his community,” Denham said.
Withrow has now spent almost 20 years in law enforcement, 15 of which have been in Centralia. Once Denham finished his introduction, Withrow read the law enforcement code of ethics and his wife pinned the new sergeant badge to his chest.
The law enforcement code of ethics can be found online at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/law-enforcement-code-of-ethics.
