Reardan loses chief to Ritzville

RITZVILLE - This city's search for a new police chief has left Reardan without its top officer.

Reardan's former police chief, Mikeal Suniga, was hired away from the city; he began his new position on April 1 in Ritzville.

Before coming to Reardan, Suniga was an officer in the Airway Heights Police Department.

The Ritzville City Council agreed March 4 to offer him the job. But the city has been on the results of a background, polygraph and psychology and medical screenings before he could start.

Suniga will be receive a base pay of $8,428 per month, Ritzville city officials said.

Suniga said he saw the Ritzville position was open for "quite a while, and it piqued my interest.

"I looked at the community, in I-90 and US 395, which is a big corridor. It's a community poised for growth."

Suniga said he arrived in Ritzville with 20-plus years of full-time law enforcement experience.

"I thought this might be a great opportunity to share some of my job knowledge over the years, and see if I could be a benefit to the Ritzville community," he said.

Suniga plans to commute to the job, as his wife works at Whitworth University in Spokane.

Ritzville Mayor School Yaeger said Suniga was chosen from three finalists, in part, because the other two candidates were not able to relocate to Ritzville and were not close enough to commute.

Between Suniga's 21.5 years of experience in the Washington Air National Guard, as well as his civilian police work, he brings experience as an instructor in firearms, Tasers, less-than-lethal tactics and tactical social interactions.

"I think learning your skill and your tradecraft is important, and having those tools to help small communities and lay some expertise down is a great benefit, and I look forward to sharing that," he said.

Suniga's said his experience includes being plugged into his communities.

"When I came to Reardan, I walked through the businesses and introduced myself and periodically stopped by those businesses," he said. "I still want to continue to do that."

He also plans to offer "coffee with a cop" in Ritzville, as a way to get to know the community and residents.

"We can have some conversations," he said.

Suniga said he loves police work.

"I can't see myself doing anything else," he said.