By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – With Sheriff Bill Benedict’s announcement that he is retiring at the end of the year, we so far have two of his deputies stepping up to assume the role.
On Tuesday we presented our interview with Deputy Marc Titterness, who filed for candidacy in December. Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King filed on Monday, and the following day Sheriff Benedict made it clear which candidate he’s backing.
“I’m going to certainly endorse Brian King, but I’m going to retire. 16 years of being Sheriff, it’s time for me to retire.”
King, a Forks native, followed his law enforcement ambitions straight out of high school when he attended the Clallam County Sheriff’s Reserve Academy. He was soon after hired as a full-time officer with the La Push Police Dept. That was followed by about 10 years with the Forks Police Dept., until he joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2001.
King says it’s an honor to be endorsed by Sheriff Benedict.
“Yeah, it’s certainly an honor and it’s a true vote of confidence that Sheriff Benedict, who I have just a tremendous amount of respect for, is backing me. I’ve been able to take many years, really all my time as a Chief for the past seven years, to really mentor up and have the opportunity to learn from a very respected man who’s, you know, a great Sheriff.”
King agrees with Deputy Titterness that they’re in the midst of a staffing crisis, especially at the jail, and he points out that so is the rest of the state and the country. But he doesn’t agree with the other candidate on why the Sheriff’s Office often returns hundreds of thousands of dollars from their budget to the County coffers, and what those funds can be used for.
“It’s not that we’re, “Hey, we’re blindly that giving back half a million dollars.” We’re spending dollars wisely. When you’re down several positions, you’re certainly not going to frivolously spend those dollars. You’re going to return them. Last year, we returned, roughly, a little over a hundred thousand dollars. Only about thirty eight thousand dollars of that was in salaries and benefits, out of an 8 million dollar budget. It’s all about being responsible. And so, that’s what we’re talking about when we talk about returning dollars to the commissioners. And so, I think that that’s very misleading and uninformed.”
King also disagrees that crime in general in our county is going up. He says the annual statistics show that in most categories, crime levels are stagnant or going down.
“What matters most to me when it comes to quality, is in the cases that we clear, which is, we’re holding somebody responsible for the crime that they committed. And we’re doing that at twice the state average. And so, that’s extremely important to me. It’s always been important to me, and it’s because of, you know, I’m 27 years of being an investigator. That’s, you know, where my purpose and my passion is, is with accountability.”
Going from being a Deputy to Sheriff and running an agency of 98 employees is a giant leap. King believes that what separates him from the other candidate is experience.
“I’ve had great mentorship from Undersheriff Cameron. He’s a brilliant guy. The Sheriff always says he’s one of the smartest guys he’s ever met. The sheriff is one of the most brilliant guys I have ever met. Two true law enforcement leaders. And being in that position of number three here at the Sheriff’s Office, I’ve been able to fill both of those roles. And they have allowed me to learn, and learn everything that I needed to take on this responsibility. Certainly to the point now where I feel comfortable taking that next step. And I wouldn’t do so if I didn’t feel I was ready.”