KITTITAS – Only in Kittitas would an officer be able to pull over a man for a suspended license, issue him a ticket, jump his car and then be able to wave at him with a smile the next day.

“Everybody likes to wave at the po-po,” Kittitas police Department officer Shayne Poole said.

Poole is one of three who man the Kittitas Police Department. The team is comprised of full-timers Chief Mike Studer and newly hired officers Brent Nierman and Poole.

Now fully staffed, the three-man, four-car police force can better serve the city of Kittitas, but it was no easy task to get there.

KPD’s original dynamic duo

It wasn’t until around 2001 that Kittitas once again had a police force to call their own. Prior to that, they had been under the jurisdiction of the county. Previous to that the town had a small department.

Once the county contract expired, the Kittitas Police Department was reborn with former chief Steve Dunnagan and officer Buddy Shuart at the wheel.

“It was extremely hectic and busy,” Dunnagan said. “I don’t think I got a full night sleep for the first six months I was there. I got called out a lot, but it was fun.”

The two-man force had to take on the daunting task of building a police department from the bottom up, dealing with finances, setting up an evidence room, vehicle maintenance, personnel and much more.

The department did begin with one police car, which only lasted until 2003.

“Buddy was looking for a guy and the guy took his car, rammed him twice, and then ran over the car,” Dunnagan said.

Luckily, they got another car; two in fact.

The duo’s focus was on cleaning up the town of Kittitas, dealing with code violations, noise violations, dog problems and drug activity in the area.

“The main issue, of course, was to put together a department that was appropriate for the town,” Dunnagan said.

One man standing

Dunnagan left KPD to become Othello’s police chief in 2006, leaving Shuart alone to handle Kittitas for about 10 months.

“It was not too bad for the first six months, then summer hit,” Shuart said. “The kids figured out there was only one guy, so that’s when all the vandalism started.”

Shuart assumed the role of officer and stand-in chief, patrolling the streets and dealing with administrative work.

“We have to give him credit for sticking it through, being the one, stable officer out there,” Kittitas Mayor Steve Arington said. “We appreciate Buddy, the community owes him thanks.”

Shuart remained on KPD as a full-time officer until his retirement last month. He is still a reserve officer, leaving the door open for the possibly of coming back to KPD in the future.  

Current state of Kittitas

According to Shuart, Kittitas has come a long way.

“A couple of weeks ago in the paper, they said Kittitas was a great place to raise a kid,” Shuart said. “They wouldn’t have said that two summers ago.”

Shuart gives a lot of the clean-up credit to the fact that there is a visible police force in town, but there is still room to improve.

“What I would like to see the city do is clean up their places and get the junk cars out of their yards,” Shuart said.

Arington added that it takes as much time, if not more, for a police officer to handle a rubbish ordinance as it would a traffic violation.

“It’s taking time away from important law enforcement issues,” Arington said.

Arington urged citizens to be more proactive and begin reporting issues they come across, expressing that drugs were still a prominent issue.

“One of the chief reasons is because we have allowed it as a citizenry,” Arington said. “When we work together, it makes it much easier.”

New Kids on the Block

In 2007, the Kittitas City Council approved two new patrol positions. In June, Poole and Nierman filled those new positions, but it wasn’t the first time the two had worked together.

Poole and Nierman both worked for Kittitas County as corrections officers in 1999. Nierman even worked with then-deputy Shuart for the county as well.

“We all have experience together and it’s pretty exciting to have this team together,” Nierman said. “It’s a really well rounded, educated and mature group.”

Nierman, a 1989 Kittitas High School graduate, has had a total of eight years of law enforcement experience.

Returning to Kittitas from Montana where he was a deputy for Sanders County, Nierman appreciates seeing familiar faces.

“It’s good to be home,” Nierman said. “I see a lot of people I know both by law enforcement and community members. It’s been a warm welcome so far.”

His wife Nikki, son Kade, 10, daughters Hannah, 8, and Lexxus 4, are also living in Kittitas. He also has one more child on the way, due in late January.

Nierman could see himself becoming more involved with the community, bringing a coaching background. In the past, he has coached little leagues and coached on varsity and c-squad teams.

Poole has been in the Kittitas area for 11 years, living with wife of one year Tricia, his two sons, Jayce, 12, and Ty, 13, and his little cocker spaniel Ellie Duchess of Ellensburg.

“I really like working here,” Poole said. “It’s such a great community.”

Working can get lonely being the only officer on patrol, so Poole is sure to check in on all the locals while he’s on his 12-hour shift.

“Getting out and talking to people is half the fun,” Poole said. “Sometimes you’re even waiting for a county guy to come through town so you just have someone to talk to.”

Poole was a paid reserve for KPD for a little over a year. While driving through town, residents can spot him passing out sticker badges to children and waving to cars passing by.

With Poole’s upbeat personality, the job can have some downfalls.

“You’re always contacting someone who has broken the law or someone who is a victim to a crime,” Poole said.

Reserves willing to serve

Throughout the fluctuation of the past years, KPD could not have gotten to where they are today without the service of their reserve team.

There are currently three reserves on staff to help pick up the slack when an officer is on vacation, injured or sick.

“When one of the full timers goes down, if we didn’t have that reserve there to plug into the schedule, we’d lose some coverage,” Studer said.  

County Comissioner Mark McClain is one of these reserves. He has been helping out KPD for the past year.

“I just wanted to do something for the community,” McClain said.

McClain took a special interest in the drug problem, namely meth, in Kittitas and began doing drug enforcement programs.

“I still feel very passionate about that issue and about volunteerism,” McClain said.

Reserves serve at least 16 hours per month, but lately it has been even more.

Randy Costello, another KPD reserve and Kittitas County corrections officer, started up a block watch program, as well as a safety helmet program for kids in Kittitas.

“I just love to volunteer,” Costello said.

Reserves have to go through similar programs that full time officers do, completing psychological and physical tests, as well as taking a polygraph. Such tests costs anywhere between $300 and $800 to complete.