NEWS | JUSTICE “THE OUTSIDER,” CONTINUED... lyzing the potential cost of every case to compare alternative programs to incarceration. “We would give ourselves report cards as an office and as individuals to see how we’re doing on the challenge to reduce recidivism,” he says. “This is key to helping people be safer and to driving down costs.” While candidates have until May 16 to file to appear on the ballot, they have to register with the state Public Disclosure Commission soon after announcing Larry Haskell or beginning to raise money, so names are beginning to trickle in. Steve Tucker, the current county prosecutor, says he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll run for re-election, but one of the office’s longtime deputy prosecutors has filed with the PDC. Retired Air Force lieutenant colonel Larry Haskell has been a deputy prosecutor at the county since 1998, except for a span from 200205 when he returned to active duty military service. Haskell says he’s open to reform ideas, but his primary focus is to increase the office’s community involvement. “We have good people and we do good work, but that’s not being communicated to the public,” Haskell says of the prosecutor’s office. “For me, the main effort is of course to increase community safety and promote trust in what we do. Trust is everything.” Haskell says the prosecutor’s office is indirectly affected by any negative high-profile incidents in law enforcement because it is a part of the greater criminal justice system. As prosecutor, he says he would attend more community functions, communicate with nonprofit leaders and law enforcement groups about ideas for improvement and lobby the state Legislature for funding. (In particular, Haskell says, he’d rather secure state funding for criminal justice programs than ask voters for a property tax increase,
because state money is more certain than putting the question to a vote.) Within the office, he’d look for more training opportunities for deputy prosecutors and staff, in addition to external training they already have access to through the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. “I’ve had a long opportunity to see what things we do well and things where there is room for improvement,” he says. Another deputy prosecutor, Patrick Johnson, has also filed to run, but says he changed his mind when Haskell filed and plans to support him “rather than divide the office.”
TAKING ON OZZIE
In a way, Douglas Orr says he’s been preparing for his run for years. The Spokane Police Department detective has an MBA, a master’s degree in organizational leadership and a Ph.D. in criminal justice, and now teaches courses at Gonzaga and WSU Spokane. Next, he plans to take on incumbent Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. Orr isn’t shy in pointing out flaws he sees in Knezovich’s leadership. Knezovich has taken heat for pushing legislation, along with sheriffs from across the state, that would make it easier for him to fire deputies who misbehave. Knezovich has cited cases where even after violent outbursts or mistreatment of inmates, deputies have been reinstated
“We have good people and we do good work, but that’s not being communicated to the public.”
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to their jobs in his agency by a state arbitrator. In response to his legislative effort, which he plans to return to in the coming 2014 session, a group of former sheriff’s office employees calling themselves Integrity First (the name of a bill Knezovich supported) has said it is investigating the sheriff and accused him of misrepresenting crime statistics. Orr is not a member of that group, but says he believes Knezovich alienates union-represented employees by focusing on firing employees
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