‘Officer Friendly’ Sergeant Jesse Flem retires after 30 years

He got a job pumping gas at Shellman’s 76 (“On Second Street, right next to Tom’s Drive-In,” he said), where he worked for 10 months. The correction deputies would stop for gas, and one encouraged Flem to apply.

“I wasn’t looking for law enforcement, it found me,” he said. “In the last 35, 36 years, I’ve had two careers, and pumped gas in between them.”

“He will be sorely missed,” said Hood River County Sheriff Matt English on Monday. “Jesse’s got a wealth of knowledge, and the thing with him is his dedication to this office and the community — it’s not just a job for him; he truly cares.”

Flem’s first job was as a corrections deputy, which included the intake of prisoners and the serving of papers. He started Aug. 1, 1986, with a monthly salary of $798 under Sheriff Dick Kelly.

In July 1991, he was hired as a patrol deputy, but didn’t start until that October — he had to train his corrections deputy replacement. Responsibilities there included “everything” from law enforcement to serving civil papers, and traffic enforcement to criminal investigations.

“We did everything and we still do everything,” he said, because of the overlapping nature of investigations.

Much has changed in 30 years, like going from three patrol cars shared between seven deputies to having “take-home cars,” enabling them to respond to calls from home.

“If there was a big incident and no car available (at the office), you didn’t go,” he said of those days.

He’s also served under three sheriffs: Kelly, until 1992; Joe Wampler, who led the department from 1992-2012; and current Sheriff English.

In July 2000, Flem was promoted to sergeant, which includes the duties of scheduling officer training and supervising the Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) program.

“OHV, that’s basically working the trail system, making sure our equipment is maintained … and then make sure everybody in the office is trained on the equipment,” he said, which consists of four motorcycles and two quads (with an additional two quads and a side-by-side assigned to search and rescue).

He also helps with the marine program, patrolling during the annual cross channel swim and helping with middle school windsurfing and kiteboarding classes.

There’s more, of course — we just don’t have room to delve into all of it here.

Though he’s retiring, “one of my positions, OHV, is coming with me,” he said. He will have marine, forest and snow park duties, clocking in 25 hours a week.

“What I’ve appreciated about him is his work ethic,” English said. “He’s just a nose to the grindstone kind of person, who works extremely hard — he works like he’s been doing this job for five years. Statistically, he’s always in the top half of the agency as far as production, and he’s been a line supervisor for 16 years with added responsibilities and tasks, but he always completes them.

“It will just be a huge hole for us to fill,” he said. “We appreciate the fact that we’re not completely losing him.”

“I’m looking forward to not having phone calls when I’m on vacation,” Flem said. “… Much to the chagrin of my lovely wife of almost 30 years, I’ve always answered the phone for deputies who have called.

“It’s a bit of a commitment, and what people don’t realize is the predicament families are put in. It’s tough on kids and wives, because you look nowadays and there’s a real possibility of people not coming home. And I don’t think some people think about that.”

While some officers don’t like to share the day-to-day grind with their families, Flem finds comfort in talking with wife, Beth.

“I want my wife to know what I’m going through, what’s going on,” he said. “It’s a release valve. Police enforcement have a high divorce rate — it takes a special person to support today’s law enforcement officer.”

Beth has multiple sclerosis, and Flem wants to spend time with her.

“She hides it well, but she no longer has 12 to 18 hours days in her anymore,” he said.

The two met while Flem was on patrol and pulled her over for a dim taillight.

“It was a set up,” he said. “I was riding with a city officer who knew her.” That taillight really was dim, though, he added.

“She didn’t get a ticket, she got a date,” he said. “We’ve been married 29 years.”

They have two daughters, Meghan and Shelby, sons-in-law Bryan West and Ethen Williams, and granddaughter JessieMae. Although Flem works nights, he has always made time to volunteer in his girls’ classrooms and coach their teams. (“It’s not easy to work nights and maintain a family life,” Beth said.) It’s how he earned his nickname “Officer Friendly” — he would sometimes come to the school in uniform.

“Even when the kids would get older, in high school and driving, they’d tell our girls, ‘Oh, I got stopped by Officer Friendly last night,’” said Beth. “Jesse is really good with teenagers and new drivers … He’s just the friendly deputy who would interact with the kids.”

He’s been able to keep a sense of humor about his job too, she said — he often gets asked, when out in uniform, if he’s working. “Nope, just cleaning my closet,” he’ll say, or “Nope, just practicing for Halloween.”

And he has a yearly tradition with dispatch — every night on Christmas Eve, when he’s out patrolling, he “pulls over” a red Corvette somewhere on the mountain near midnight and calls it in under the name of Kris Kringle.

“It’s really funny when it’s a new dispatcher because they don’t get it, they’re so used to putting in a name, and when it comes back ‘unable to locate,’ he’ll say, ‘Can you try the North Pole?’ and they finally get it,” said Beth. “The long-term dispatchers, that’s one thing on Christmas Eve they listen for. Experienced dispatchers let the newbies take the call so they can run Santa Claus.”