I have been working my way through a long list of deputies and civilian employees of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.  They volunteered to speak with a journalist, something I don’t get much when I am trying to pry information out of law enforcement.  I should be happy about this.  But the calls are making me depressed and have led me to write this editorial.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is in crisis.

Morale is worse than abysmal.  It is destructive.  One after another deputy, most of whom have ably been serving Jefferson County for many years, are ready to leave if Sheriff David Stanko is re-elected.

Some are ready to go now.  Working conditions are so bad they would rather give up a job they love than continue to work for a man they see as a dishonest, adversarial boss rather than a leader who helps them do their very difficult jobs. They have each other to get through these next weeks.  But when they start losing their brothers, what the community knows as a team of dedicated, skilled, professional and compassionate men in uniform is fast going to fall apart.

We will lose the huge investment we have made in these people.  We will lose their institutional knowledge and the trust and rapport they have built up over tens of thousands of hours of patrolling our community.

Weeks ago, one deputy in confidence told me he was quitting because of Sheriff Stanko.  A 14-year veteran of this department, with another five years before that, Deputy Scott Boyd has since announced he is taking a cut in pay and leaving for Las Vegas.  A long interview with Boyd, in which he shares his observations about the turmoil in the Sheriff’s Office, was published by Patrick Sullivan on the Jefferson County Washington Facebook page (the unofficial, private FB page that provides news coverage for Jefferson County).

Every deputy with whom I have spoken says they are ready to follow Boyd if Stanko gets another term.  These are good people, the people who do the hard, dangerous, degrading work of law enforcement.  They are more valuable than any administrator or politician.

The prospect of losing every deputy and detective is a very real possibility.  Ninety percent of the office, according to Boyd, stands against Stanko.  My calls have confirmed that estimate to be accurate.

No organization can do its job if the troops have lost faith and trust in their general.  The cumulative effect of Stanko’s years in office is clear. The Sheriff’s Office is in crisis. As the man in charge, he is responsible.

What is with Republicans?

Law enforcement is opposing Stanko’s re-election.  That is true not only of deputies, but also of the Port Townsend police.  They do not respect or trust Stanko.  I have been told they avoid working with him because of concerns about his competence and professionalism.

Jefferson County’s first responders also oppose Stanko’s re-election.  Our local firefighters have taken the unprecedented step of issuing endorsements for Stanko’s opponent, Detective Joe Nole.

The lawyers and judges in the courthouse who see Stanko’s work up close, as well as the discord he has sown among his team, have rated his management and leadership as unacceptable.  See the recent Bar Association poll.

But Stanko is finding support from strange bedmates.

He has backers from the far Left of the Democratic Party.  These are activists aligned with anti-cop movements like Black Lives Matters.

At the same time, Stanko is being funded by rock-ribbed Republicans, including Gene Farr, John Shold, Richard Hild and the Republican Women of Jefferson County.

A recent mailer from the Stanko camp warned of a “grave threat” to Jefferson County from militarization of local law enforcement.  It showed a SWAT team in full gear, automatic weapons at the ready, threatening imminent lethal action. 

Jefferson County does not have a SWAT team.  That photo was cribbed from the Internet.  Here is where it came from.  It was clearly selected for its fear-mongering impact.

The mailer appeals to anti-law enforcement sentiments, the kind of people who see the Humvee deputies once used for search and rescue as the equivalent of an Abrams tank.  These are people who seriously talk about disarming law enforcement and subjecting them to impossibly onerous, constant, vindictive oversight, with a prison cell guaranteed if they ever make a mistake. This is the Kshama Sawant crowd that is doing such damage to Seattle’s public safety and police department.

Such demagoguery should not be embraced by someone who must have the backs of his men. They face increasing irrational ideological attacks that hamper their ability to do their job. They need a Sheriff who stands with them.  But Stanko has allied himself with the enemies of those who put their lives on the line to keep the rest of us safe.

The “grave threat” to Jefferson County is not from law enforcement having the proper tools to do their jobs.  It is from the people to whom Stanko is appealing.

Republican dollars have been helping fund this nonsense.  Stanko tells Republicans in private he is one of them.  But nothing he has done in office or on the campaign trail aligns him with what one would think were Republican values.

Stanko is one thing to one group, something else to another.  Whatever it takes to cobble a few votes in the face of a clear message from voters he should move on.

The primary results—Nole crushed Stanko—showed voters don’t want Stanko back in office any more than his deputies.  What is the point, Mr. Stanko, of pressing forward with increasingly desperate and divisive messages?  Why would you want to lead an organization that does not want you?  Why do you want to prolong this agony for an office that was not in crisis before you took over?

Sheriff Stanko, you are hurting law enforcement in this county.  Please stand down before you do any more damage.