EVERETT — Police Chief Kathy Atwood plans to retire in June after 25 years with the department.
Deputy Chief Dan Templeman will be named the next police chief, Atwood said Thursday.
Atwood, who turns 53 in June, grew up in Everett and rose through the ranks of the police department. She is the city’s first female police chief.
“I started out as a regular police officer and didn’t plan on making this a career that would last for 25 years,” she said. “It has really been wonderful being a police officer in the community I grew up in.”
Atwood is looking forward to getting more involved with her teenage son’s school, and she wants to find more ways to volunteer with young people, she said. She will continue to work with the Dawson Place Child Advocacy Center, which offers resources to children who are victims of sexual and physical abuse.
In March, she was awarded the Greater Everett Community Foundation Volunteer of the Year award at the Bob Drewel Human Services Fund event.
Templeman, 44, grew up in Lake Stevens and graduated from Lake Stevens High School. In September, he’ll have been a police officer in Everett for 23 years.
Templeman became the deputy chief of operations in 2011, and Atwood has been prepping him to become chief ever since, she said.
“He is an amazing individual. He will bring the utmost in ethics and professionalism to the leadership of the department, and he is just really a bright guy, but also, too, he’s real down to earth,” she said.
Atwood originally planned to retire earlier but had put that on hold when she had the opportunity to serve as chief three years ago.
As police chief, Atwood has always felt she was personally responsible for the safety of the entire city, she said. After retiring, she wants to spend more time following her son’s athletics and she wants to be part of “the mothers club,” maybe making snacks for his teachers, she said.
“I’m really proud of my career, and I think it’s been a full career in law enforcement, and I suspect I have a whole other chapter in my life in a whole other career, but I’m not sure what that’s going to be yet,” she said.
Templeman will join more than 30 men and women who have served as the Everett police chief since the city incorporated in 1893, according to city records.
As Templeman becomes chief, the police department’s priorities will still be to enhance quality of life and reduce crime, he said Thursday.
“As deputy chief, it’s been pretty educational so far,” he said. “I look forward to continuing to learn in my new role. I’m definitely excited to be able to take over leadership of the department and guide us down the road in terms of accomplishing some of the goals we’ve established.”
The department has done a good job of using new techniques in crime analysis and data-driven policing, and Templeman wants that to continue, he said.
The Everett Police Department has roughly 200 officers assigned to two precincts, one downtown and one near the mall. The department’s 2014 budget was $31.8 million.
Like many police departments around the country, Everett is expecting to see a large number of older officers retire soon, Templeman said. The department will need to aggressively recruit quality candidates, he said.
Templeman is married with two children. He likes to spend his free time with his family, he said. Together, they enjoy sports, the outdoors and boating.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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