When Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders first took office in 2023, he knew he had a lot of work to do.
Sanders said he knew his work was cut out for him considering a high crime rate in the county, as well as the staffing crisis within Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.
Sanders said his first year in office was focused on “turning the ship around.”
“It was a packed first year. I didn’t have any extra time to do anything other than what was done this year,” Sanders said. “The crime rate is still out of control. Our staffing is still a mess.”
Sanders said 2023 was a busy year with a steep learning curve. He spent the first six months as sheriff learning how each of the “different pieces” in TCSO operate. He said, until he understood how the department functioned, it was difficult to get anything done.
Sanders added the hiring process was one of the long-lasting tasks within TCSO.
“It’s so convoluted and complex. It’s not designed for anyone to just walk in and understand. There’s human resources, and they run the county side. Then there’s the sheriff’s office, which is its own independent office because I’m an elected official. There’s also the civil service commission, which sits over me,” Sanders said. “To get the big stuff done, it’s been interesting. If only I could convey to the public just how complex it is. These feel like wins for me, but they’re so hard to get. It takes a long process to even get the simplest of ideas actually implemented in government work.”
Sanders spent the first half of his year as sheriff finding out what he’s inheriting, how the system works and ultimately trying to find his groove. He said he found his groove during the second half of the year with help from his executive staff.
“My executive staff, all my chiefs and I, we meet every Tuesday morning. It’s always funny because it’s after the weekend, but all I do is think about this job. I’ll be mowing the lawn and have 10 new ideas, write them down and bring it into the meeting. That’s where a lot of the stuff gets hatched out,” Sanders said. “Starting to understand how the process works has made things a little more efficient toward the end of the year.”
One of the biggest accomplishments in year one was opening up the jail booking restrictions, he said. Despite heavy union resistance to do such, Sanders felt it was a normal duty to ease the restrictions.
“The jail was shut down during the pandemic and over the last couple of years, you’d have to commit an act of God to get arrested and booked in the Thurston County Jail,” Sanders said. “I opened up the jail on Aug. 1, and we had 230 people in our jail. Last night, there were 217. So even though we opened it up, the population still went down.”
Along with the jail, Sanders said things on the patrol side of TCSO have improved as well.
“Statistically in 2022, we lost double-digit deputies. It was somewhere in the 10 to 15 range. This year, we lost two. It’s something I think about 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To stop the bleeding there was good. We’ve seen a significant uptick in productivity from our deputies in traffic stops, and to me, that’s an attitude change from an agency,” Sanders said. “We’re trying to bring that excitement back, and the desire to do this work. We even changed our pursuit policy to allow DUIs, and I might be leading the entire county in pursuits this year. For me, as long as we’re following the law and policy, following through with the intent of getting intoxicated drivers off the street, I’ll take that first step in doing it.”
With Proposition 1 passing in the 2023 Thurston County general election, Sanders sees a big facelift coming soon to the department. The proposition authorizes an additional sale and use tax at a rate of two-tenths of 1% to be used for up to 75% in law enforcement protection, including hiring additional sheriff deputies and associated infrastructure, and 25% for additional prosecution and proportionate public defense services, and elections security infrastructure.
“I think in 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now, we will look back, especially those who understand the financial situation of the sheriff’s office, and recognize that Proposition 1 was the most substantial thing that’s ever happened to the county sheriff’s office, by far,” Sanders said. “I do think in 10 years, people are going to feel the difference.”
He added Proposition 1 could help TCSO improve the “deteriorating conditions” of the different buildings.
“We don’t have anywhere to take people and question them. We don’t have a nice facility,” Sanders said. “When I bring new candidates in, they’re either walking into an old, run-down courthouse that was built 50 years ago or they’re coming into our field operations base in Tumwater. That’s an old toy factory that’s rotting from the outside in.”
Sanders believes Proposition 1 will make TCSO a legitimate contender in law enforcement services and attract good applicants and lateral hires.
“Proposition 1 is going to be a game changer. Even to get us to a point where we have 10 deputies on at all times, people will feel that. Our deputies will feel that. Having another body with them all the time is something you could tangibly touch and feel. It’s not just an app on a phone,” Sanders said. “I cried once it passed. I was on my way back from the Washington Associations of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs conference, and I’m driving so I’m not checking my phone. I didn’t want to know either though. Eventually the undersheriff called me and said we were up 10 points, and I just cried.
“Prop 1 allowed us to convert a vacant position into a finance position, and we’ve already filled it,” Sanders continued. “Now that we have another finance person, our finance department can now start going out and competing for and maintaining grants. That’s always been the shelf we couldn’t reach, but we can now use resources to get more resources. That’s how departments start to blow up.”
Sanders said TCSO would have had to cut services and not respond to anything that isn’t a felony in progress if Proposition 1 hadn’t passed. He lauded Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall, Thurston County Commissioner Carolina Mejia and the campaign’s manager for their contributions.
“Those were the only ones doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and kudos to them,” Sanders said. “They did a lot of work, too.”
Going forward, Sanders is still focusing on staffing.
“We’re still in a staffing emergency. That hasn’t improved. We are working on a pretty big package for laterals, but it takes a long time. I started the process in July, and it’s just now starting to wrap up,” Sanders said. “I’m hoping in January it will actually be taking off and ready to go.”
At just 30 years old, Sanders said many people were skeptical of his ability because of his age.
“Coming in, I feel like there was a lot of opposition to my age, but for me, it was always about making sure that I’m never the smartest person in the round, that I’m always surrounding myself with people smarter and more knowledgeable,” Sanders said. “One thing that my dad always taught me, from a very young age … We’d play basketball in the driveway, and he’d beat me down. It wasn’t until I was 15 or 16 until I beat him. One thing he always taught me was never let your opponent take the last shot. Always bet on yourself.”
With three years remaining on Sanders’ term, he aims to make TCSO one of the premier agencies in the state. Though it won’t happen overnight, Sanders is thankful for the community’s support in the past year.
“Thank you for the trust. It’s been a fun ride, and I’m really optimistic about year two,” Sanders said. “I’m excited to not have to run for office or go beg for money this year. I actually get to spend most of my time dealing with the staffing and implementing Proposition 1 in a transparent way. I’m grateful to have this opportunity, and we have three more years to get some more stuff done.”
