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From local leaders and hometown heroes to breaking stories and in-depth conversations, the KMAS Podcast brings you the voices that matter in Mason County, Washington. Hosted by longtime broadcaster Jeff Slakey, each episode dives into what’s happening around the Hood Canal—government, education, small business, the outdoors, and everything in between.
New episodes drop throughout the week, featuring interviews, community spotlights, and extended versions of the stories you hear on the air at KMAS.
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In the office of Mason County Sheriff Ryan Sperling, how are you? Good, good morning to you. It's been a little while since we've caught up. We've missed each other for a time or two on these Sheriff sit-downs presented by our great friends at our Community Credit Union who have just continued to be such huge supporters of law enforcement in general.
The Sheriff's Office, I was meeting earlier today with Amber Trail from our Community Credit Union and we were talking about to a group of students how much they are invested in Mason County and the law enforcement and the canines and all the things. It's really these partnerships are amazing. And it's the relationships that are a part of that.
We know each other. We're in a small enough community and when you know each other, it doesn't matter your political stance or whether you all agree on anything because relationships trump those things. You know and trust each other and our Community Credit Union is doing everything they can to keep our community a community that invests in each other and takes care of each other.
And I just love that philosophy that they lead from. People often ask me, they go, Jeff, you talk to so many people and you've talked to so many people over the years and it seems like you're friends, you're friendly and friends with everybody you talk to. How do you do that? I go, well, because I know at the end of the day, regardless of like you're saying politics aside.
Everybody wants the best for Mason County. They have different ways to get there. And so if we all can just have a conversation, everybody's got great ideas and they all kind of move up to the top and things get done and you just come at with an aura of respect to the other person that you're talking to and the fact that their positions matter just as much as everybody else's.
And I know that's something that you talk a lot about here in the Sheriff's Office, especially when you're out and about. And one example of how this is kind of full circle. We were just talking about the DARE program and how in the 80s people remember T.R. Rankin and going through his programs and still remembering those tenants.
Well, it's now 2025 and things are changed in the way you disseminate the information to the kids. But the overall message is still we're part of the community and you have got good ability to make good positive change. Well, you know, just a couple of years ago we had within our school systems a couple 12 year olds overdose of fentanyl.
And we've got a society that provides plenty of opportunities for kids to fail. We want to do something in our community from the Sheriff's Office position that's worked in the past, but DARE's actually rebranded and it's a decision making model. And it teaches the kids how to go through a thought process to make solid decisions and it runs them through 10 weeks, which is quite a bit different than what it used to be.
Only one of the 10 weeks do they deal with drugs. Some of them they deal with bullying, suicide, other things that kids are facing now. So it's very relevant and it teaches them how to make decisions.
And if we can invest in our kids, in our community, it's going to ensure the future of our community is that much better. So we're completely dedicated to that. We get to see the bad part of society a lot.
And this is another one of those pieces where when my deputies get a chance to go in and see kids in the school that want to do things right and want to contribute to the community and want to make good decisions, it really is good for their mental health as well. Instead of just dealing with people that are making the poor decisions, we have an impact on future people to where now maybe I don't arrest somebody because we've helped them to learn to make good decisions. And then they have somebody to role model if it's not at home.
If they don't have it at home, or maybe they do, it's just another person that's in law enforcement that now they know personally and they can look up to. Deputy Kolbenson is the DARE officer here in Mason County. And through his work, you were telling me that he's been elevated to run kind of the statewide model of this.
Yes. DARE America is a program throughout the United States. And the person who's in charge of the Western United States, Dennis, is a former Nevada chief of the state patrol.
And he asked if we would, because he saw the work that Matt was doing and what was going on, and it's still early on. I think there's only 14 DARE instructors right now across the state of Washington. Oh, wow.
And Matt was one of the early ones. Yeah, yeah. And he's already had a successful program.
And they've asked him to be the coordinator, the state coordinator for DARE, which will tie up some of his time, not a lot. But we said, absolutely. We want to put him up front.
He does a great job. He's been a school resource officer for years. Because we know that if we put the wrong officer in a school, it can ruin or be real hard on the program.
And Matt has just been such a great example throughout our community. And he's very well known as a result. It comes back to what you were saying with a society that's very divided over lots of things.
It comes back to, do you value people? Because we arrest people that we don't agree with all the time, yet I still need to treat them with respect. I still need to treat them as a human being, regardless of even some of the foolish decisions that they will make. I will hold them accountable, but we will treat them with respect in the process.
What are the school districts these days here in the county that DARE is deployed to? It started at Pioneer, right? We've only done one class, and it was last year at Pioneer. This year, we're going to try to launch. We got one other DARE instructor.
Nicholas Monteo is now a DARE instructor as well. And we're going to try to introduce it to two smaller schools this year, again, to train up other officers. And Greatview and Southside are going to be the two schools we're going to try to get DARE into this year.
But eventually, we want every fifth grade class in Mason County to have a DARE instructor. North Mason has five fifth grade classes. You're talking hundreds of fifth graders.
And then the neat thing about this program, too, is that when they're in sixth grade, they get to come back and help and invest in the younger generation all the way up. We would love to see this all the way up to where seniors from high school come back down to the fifth grade class at least once and encourage and be a role model for the kids that are in fifth grade. And that also reiterates what they've learned and gives them an opportunity to learn to invest in the future as well.
DARE is going to be a lot more visible in the county, thanks to a big donation. Tell us about it. Oh, I got to tell you, because of a friend of the agency, he introduced us to Bruce Titus, who happens to be part of Titus Will and Titus Auto Group and all the different things.
And we talked to him about the DARE program. And wow, he ended up donating not a cent. We didn't pay tax and licensing.
We're never going to pay for maintenance on this vehicle. He donated a 2024 Mustang GT to the DARE program. And we got the keys.
We've got the car. I think it had 7,000 miles. It's a beautiful car.
We've had Les Schwab say that they will donate tires and rims and any suspension work that needs to be done. We have another couple companies, and we'll celebrate all this here coming up, that have donated a wrap so that it'll be wrapped, the light bar so it'll be a functioning patrol car, and any other things that we need. Of course, our community credit union was the very first ones to step up and say, we want to be the main sponsors for the DARE program.
And we don't have the budget for a lot of what this takes. And to do it right, if you remember back in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s, there were DARE vehicles. And usually, those were seized drug seizure vehicles.
The way the state's going now, we don't have a lot of drug seizure vehicles. It just doesn't happen. So that's really not an option.
So this was a way to have that big car that's a big draw to the kids that everybody will see. It'll be in the parades. It'll be everywhere.
And we're super excited about it. And it's not quite done yet. We're waiting for the wrap and the lights to get put on.
And we hopefully will have it at different events. We'd like to have it done for the parade. We'll see.
Yeah, I'm sure when is Matt driving it? Yes, it's his patrol car. Man, you probably got some other people going, I'll sign up to be a DARE officer. I'm going to ride one of these things.
I love it. And it is a good thing. Do you have to explain a lot to the decision makers in the schools? Or if you go kind of pitch this to a school board with the parents there who have a memory of what DARE was and whether or not and how different it is? Do you have to? We've been doing an education campaign kind of below the surface as of right now.
Matt's gone to the North Mason Voice. We've gone to lots of different things. I've sat down and talked with every superintendent in Mason County, except for the Shelton School District, because that's kind of owned by the city.
And the city's interested in getting a DARE officer as well. So we'll probably partner with them. But we've been doing the education committee or campaign, so to speak, to make sure people understand the difference.
And then once we unveil this car, then we're going to do much more of a blitz on it. So all the community gets to see it. And gets to understand what it is that is our vision.
And we really want to invest in our kids. There's too many things grabbing for their attention in the wrong direction. We need to be a positive influence in our kids, in our community.
You're all over the place here, the county. It's gigantic as well. So many acres and the space with the water.
But how's the county doing here in this last quarter of 2025? Crime statistics, if you have any. What can you tell me about how things are moving along here? You may have seen our social media lately. We've been posting quite a few very key arrests that we've been able to make.
And that's been our SET team. Just five, six years ago, we didn't have enough resources because the calls for service had gone up. And again, the area that we were covering.
And then we had a lot of position shortages because people weren't applying for law enforcement. That's starting to turn around. And the commissioners were very conservative with the finances during COVID.
Unlike some of the other counties that are cutting budgets, they've actually added a few positions to the sheriff's office, which has allowed us to pull a couple people out of the rotation. So they don't have to answer calls for service. Because again, we answer over the thousand square miles, anywhere from 60 to 150 911 calls a day or calls for service.
And now I've got a couple people that won't be responsible for answering calls for service. We've got a team of four, a sergeant and three deputies. And their whole goal is to look at crime stat data and go out and make key arrests that clean up communities.
Okay. And that's why they've been posting on the big felony events. And it's going to take us a while, but they're going to be able to deal with traffic problems.
They're going to be able to deal with lots of things. And we're calling it the SET team, which I've introduced a while back, but it's a sheriff's enforcement team. And they deal with current problems in the community.
If we have a spike of burglaries in an area and we notice it on our crime stats data, we'll look at the data, look at the trends, and we'll go out and saturate the area. So you're on social media and you see that post or whatever. Do you have any numbers of bad guys who are on Facebook who see this? Or how does the word get out in that community? The folks who are breaking the laws that the sheriff's office is stepping these up.
And we should think about if we want to do this or not. It's an interesting phenomenon, isn't it? They're just as connected as anybody else. And they have their own little networks.
And when we arrest a couple of their buddies out of their networks, they go, wait a minute, Mason County isn't playing anymore. We might have to go and commit some of our crimes elsewhere. It's a bit of a bubble.
It has to do with resources. And it's like water. It flows where it's easiest to commit crimes.
And because we've been so rural, it's been easier in years past because we haven't had the resources. So creating this team is sending a strong message, especially when you make some key arrests of some big players and it really impacts it. Hopefully, that will send a strong message.
If you want to commit crimes in Mason County, you're going to be dealt with. Tick through a couple other things that I've been reading online and social media. A lot of folks are commenting again.
I think it's probably because the leaves have fallen, but you can start to see encampments again along Highway 3, things like that. What is the sheriff's office involvement in all that stuff? We've been involved for quite a while. If you're heading out Highway 3, there's been encampments along the railroad tracks there for quite some time.
And the Navy got a hold of us that owns that railroad and gave us a request to remove squatters. And then I had Mankey Property asked us and Hanson Property asked us. So we've removed them and we've gone back a couple times.
The properties where you see it at right now, I think are within the city limits and they are still working through that. I think they're getting a plan together to do some things because some of that creates problems of fire danger. We've had assaults that we've responded to in some of those camps and it's not the best place for them to be as well.
And there's other resources. So coming together as a community to address these problems, they're very complex and there's so many different pieces to it. I think we as a community are still working through some of that.
The other one that I see on social media a lot and whether or not it's true or not, but people will put up posts that they say ICE is in town. And can you just explain again where the sheriff's office lies within the state constitution, U.S. constitution, how that all works? Yes, the Keep Washington Working law that was put into effect, I think in 2018-19, prohibits us as a sheriff's office or any law enforcement in Washington state to ask somebody their immigration status. So when we contact somebody, we're not going to ask them because it's against the law in Washington state.
And it prevents us from keeping a list of non-documented citizens or illegal aliens that we deal with. The only time is when that changes is when they've committed a crime. And when they've committed a crime, it's a little different.
Washington has a stance on it that's a little bit in opposition or a lot in opposition to what the federal government is right now. And we as law enforcement leaders are really put in a precarious position because we have to kind of walk this fine line, obeying state law, yet obeying federal law. And it's a knife's edge.
So we're very careful. The biggest thing I think local law enforcement is wanting to make sure is that nobody is made a victim because they're afraid to report it because they think that we're going to report them to ICE. Sure.
And criminals will capitalize on that and they will victimize people and tell them if you report this to the police, you're going to be deported and your kids are going to be left here and everything else. And that's the big message we put out into the community is we're not going to ask you your status. If a crime is committed against you, we will deal with it.
We're not going to ask you that. And the other thing is, is if they're speeding or committing a traffic violation and we go to stop them, we're not going to ask them. So don't run and now commit a felony because you think we're going to deport you.
So those are the things that we're kind of wrestling with. And, you know, the rest of it's between the state and the federal government to work out local law enforcement. We're going to do the best we can to abide both because we took an oath to uphold the Washington state constitution and the United States constitution.
So we have to do our best to try to do both. And we're not the lawmakers. We're just the enforcers of the law.
Yeah. Well, the lawmakers will be in session soon. Is there anything you're hearing about potential things happening this upcoming session? Any I believe it's a short session.
So not usually a lot happens, but I think there's going to be what is called the sheriff's qualification bill brought up. And what it was proposed is that a non elected board, the criminal justice training center would be able to remove a sheriff, an elected sheriff from their position. So without going through the normal electoral process.
And we're by far against that because it takes away the citizens rights to control who their sheriff is. And sheriffs being the only elected law enforcement official in the world. I answer not to politicians that are elected.
I answer only to the citizens. And if I'm not doing what the citizens want in Mason County, they either recall me or unelect me. And there's processes in place.
So whether it be the Sheriff's Association or the Washington State Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police Association, we're working with legislators. Our legislators are very supportive to try to come up with something that doesn't take that right away from our citizens. You know, we have an electoral process in the United States that needs to be protected.
So we're trying to come up with alternatives. I've always agreed that there should be qualifications to run for sheriff. You know, you shouldn't just be able to be 18 years old and have an idea.
I think I can be the sheriff and run. And fortunately, most communities won't elect somebody like that. They're looking for somebody with history and records and experience and all that stuff.
So sheriffs have always been in support of qualifications. We just don't agree with the removal of the sheriff by a non-elected board. Well, I mean, you've got a lot of experience in your own right from all the time you've been with State Patrol and your time in the Marines and here at the Sheriff's Office as undersheriff and deputy chief.
And now you're the big boss here at the big desk. And so you do have that background. And I always did think that was a little bizarre that anybody could just be like, I'll run for sheriff.
Why not? I guess you can say that about any office. You can to the county commission or auditor or anything. But you know, there's a couple elected positions such as prosecutor and judge.
They have to be bar certified and they have certain qualifications. So that makes sense for the position. I think the Office of Sheriff should have qualifications as well.
It's just how much do we take away? For example, Pacific County had a situation where they the citizens voted a non-law enforcement person to be their sheriff. He was a retired naval chief and he was the best candidate in their minds by the electoral process. And it seems like he's doing a good job down there.
So, you know, do you take that away? And then you look back at Paul Pastor in Pierce County, probably one of the most revered sheriffs in recent times. And he was never a fully commissioned law enforcement officer. He had his PhD in, I think it was sociology or one of those.
Wow. But he was a great sheriff. So do we take that away? Sure.
I don't know. That's a tough one for sure. That's one of those things that I want the citizens to make those decisions, not just the legislators.
That's what the pamphlets are for. That's what the forums are for us to get a sense of those people. How's the jail? The last time we talked to the county was still below that one per 1000 threshold on employment.
But the jail, how is that? Look, you mentioned the prosecutors. And so that's what I started thinking about there. Yeah.
You know, we really struggled to even get applicants for a long time for the jail. Yeah. Yeah.
It's turning. Good. We just hired three corrections deputies.
Two of them were laterals. Actually, I think we've hired four recently. And we've got, I think, five more openings.
But we've actually have a list that's being established. And we're going through that list. So times have changed.
Our patrol division is almost full. Our support staff division is full. So the downturn that we had right after COVID is starting to change.
And I'm super excited to see that. And we've got great quality people. But at the same time, we have a lot of work to do.
Because over 50% of our patrol division has less than five years on. Right. So there's a lot of training experience that has to be done.
And then the jail is turning that way as well. But that brings new life. It brings new excitement.
It brings a new generation to the profession. And it's a good thing. As long as we create in them the culture that we need to have to take care of the citizens first and ask the question, what's best for the community? Has Kevin retired? Is he done at the end of the year? No, he's done at the end of January.
OK. And do you have the succession on that? Shane Schoenberg. We had a board.
We had a process. And he came out on top. We had the jail chief from Thurston County, the jail chief from Grays Harbor County, the chief of police from Shelton PD, all of the partners and stakeholders be part of that board to select the next jail chief.
And it was unanimous across the board. And our former lieutenant, Shane Schoenberg, has been selected to be the next patrol chief. And I wanted to do that six months before the jail or not patrol chief, jail chief.
I wanted to do that before Kevin left from the jail chief position so that they could sit side by side and train. Oh, yeah. So that that knowledge is passed on.
Man, it has been a while since we've caught up. There's a lot of great things coming out of the sheriff's office as usual. Did I miss? Did we miss anything? Oh, there's a hundred other things.
But we'll save that for the next time. I look forward to seeing you in the parade with or without that new DARE vehicle. And, you know, I will say, too, on a side note, I've run into Matt a few times in other group settings, and he's always got a smile on his face.
He's always so positive. And that, I think, circling back to the DARE program is really what you need. He's I mean, he's like a big kid.
And so I love hanging out with him. And he loves the kids. And he loves the parents and the schools.
And he's he's invested. And it's a great fit for for that program. We are fortunate.
We are fortunate to have him. And I think we've got some up and coming. One of our new deputies has expressed a strong desire to be involved with it.
He used to be a school teacher. Cool. Right.
So, I mean, you got people that know that world that are really want to be invested in the kids. And that's what we need. The sheriff sit down is presented by great partners, our community credit union.
I'm here in the office of Mason County Sheriff Ryan Sperling. Thank you. Thank you, Jeff.