Neher to run for Sheriff of Klickitat County

Currently, according to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, Neher is the only candidate so far who has filed to run for the office of Sheriff.

The announcement comes amid confirmation that Songer will not be running for a third term (related story).

Neher has worked for the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office since January 2010, according to the announcement. He spent 10 years as a patrol deputy, around 18 months as a detective, and the last seven months as the undersheriff.

During his time as a patrol deputy, Neher notes that he served on the sheriff’s office marine patrol as a field training officer and was the reserve coordinator for the department for six years.

As the sole detective in the office, Neher worked in major crimes, sex crimes and narcotics.

As undersheriff, Neher manages the patrol division, civil division, and works with the jail superintendent, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the 49-bed jail facility. He also supervises approximately 40 full and part-time employees and around 145 volunteers in the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Posse.

Neher lives in Klickitat County with his wife, Casey, who have three sons together: Colin, Ethan, and Austin.

In an interview with Columbia Gorge News, Neher noted that the primary reason for running in the election is to fill the gap in leadership that will occur once Songer leaves office. His concern, he said, is “that somebody runs for office with no leadership experience” or law enforcement experience. It’s happened before in Klickitat County.

“My strategy is to start early,” Neher said. “I’m not waiting until last minute.”

He noted specific policy goals he hopes to achieve should he be elected. He said he needs to “look long term as opposed to where things are at in the short term.”

Currently, more than half of the deputies active with the Sheriff’s Office are able to retire. A key point in his platform is to hire on and train the most qualified deputies that represent the county and community.

“Training and career development will be the focus for the entire sheriff’s office. A better trained and developed sheriff’s office will be better for our entire county,” Neher said in his announcement.

During the interview, Neher noted that Klickitat County is historically difficult to hire in. He said he believes there will be more opportunity in entry-level recruits rather than lateral transfers because there is not usually a large pool of transfers to hire from.

Despite budget reductions at the county, Neher said the department will need to grow as the county grows in population. He expressed a positive attitude when responding to how the need for more resources can be balanced with the county’s desire to reduce staffing.

“I think that my job is to really look at things hard and say, ‘Does the county need the money to start these things,’” he said, noting that asking for more resources from county commissioners can at least get the conversation started, even if the desired outcome is not realized in the immediate future.

Another pillar of his platform is to oversee changes to the department’s standards and operations that have been adjusted by recent statewide legislation.

“I will work hard to ensure we follow those changes,” Neher said. “Consider that last year, a lot of the laws and a lot of the ways that we’ve done business have changed. It’s a night and day difference.”

To that end, he expressed disappointment in certain changes. Specifically, he said that he would like to see the standard for detainment lowered from probable cause to reasonable suspicion.

Even still, he described his leadership style as “flexible to the needs of the community.

“We have stay up to the times,” Neher said. “Law enforcement is an ever-changing field. We’re always changing, always evolving.”

Neher added in his announcement that he wants to address Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the field of law enforcement. “PTSD in law enforcement leads to job dissatisfaction, disciplinary issues, and potential use of force issues. I will start the process of addressing possible PTSD issues in the sheriff’s office.”

Further, there are a multitude of projects he says he hopes to continue and implement.

Neher said he has heard community concerns that the sheriff’s office has little presence in the west end of the county. He said he is currently working to set up an administrative desk in White Salmon, and plans to spend more time on patrol assisting with and responding to calls in the community.

Neher might call himself a proponent of community policing. He said he has lived in places where law enforcement goes “from call to call.

“(Klickitat County is) unique. We’re busy but not as busy,” he said. “We’re able to go sit down and listen to what the call is … It takes away some people’s animosity towards the system, if you want to call it that.”

He said he intends to be more involved with community and city councils in the county, to guide the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Posse (a volunteer community policing program) as a rural crime prevention program, and to encourage neighborhood watch programs.

He also called for the establishment of an animal shelter in the county.

Songer, in office until his term expires, was the first to express support for and endorse Neher for the office of Sheriff.

Given Songer’s endorsement, and the fact that he appointed Neher to second-in-command seven months before the announcement calls into question whether Neher would take on the mantle of being proactively defiant in the face of “unconstitutional” policies.

As previously reported, Songer has been outspoken in his belief to not enforce state mandates he deemed “unconstitutional.”

Asked whether Neher considered himself a constitutional law enforcement official, he said, “Actually I think all law enforcement officers are constitutional.

“We have certain rules that we have to follow,” Neher explained. “The Constitution narrows what we can and can’t do.”

Should the COVID-19 pandemic stretch into 2023, would Neher defy state emergency orders as his predecessor did?

“I don’t believe I have the authority,” Neher responded. “That’s certainly something the courts could address.”

Accolades

Other Accolades mentioned in Neher’s announcement include:

• Graduate of Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission’s Basic Law Enforcement Academy, Basic Collision Investigations, Field Training Officer Academy, and Crisis Intervention Team Training.

• Served in the Washington State Army National Guard and attended basic training and military police school with the 795th Military Police Brigade at Ft. McClellan, Ala. Assigned to the 81st Infantry Battalion out of Seattle, Washington.

• Volunteer Firefighter with City of Goldendale Fire Department.

• Completion of the National Fire Protection Agency’s Essentials of Firefighting and Fire Department Operations (NFPA 1001) and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources Firefighter Training. Member of the Washington State Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators.

• Associate of Applied Science degree in Criminal Justice.