New Chelan County Sheriff Says He’ll Try To Improve Some Services

New Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison is promising to improve some services his office provides.  

Morrison made one of his first appearances before county commissioners Tuesday, where he said he'll try to step up the efforts of Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol.  

"I can't promise that I've got a magic wand that's going to solve all issues, but we'll definitely make sure that we're putting our resources where they need to be, and take care of the problems that we do have," said Morrison. "I believe that the Marine Patrol is something that we can fix and do better this year."  

Commissioner Tiffinay Gering, whose district includes Lake Chelan, said she appreciated the Sheriff Department's stepped-up patrol of the area. She also mentioned that she gets calls from constituents who have expressed concerns about the Marine Patrol in the past.  

The major waterways the Chelan County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit is responsible for, include Lake Chelan (55 miles long), 70 miles of the Columbia River, Lake Wenatchee, Wapato Lake, and the Wenatchee River.  

Morrison also said the Sheriff's Office will try to serve the county's rural areas as much as possible.  

"I know we try to get out as much as possible because we understand when you start getting further out in the county, outside of our populated areas, that coverage typically is reduced," Morrison said. "But I try to remind our sergeants as well that we do patrol all of Chelan County."  

Commissioners approved the purchase of a Search & Rescue Team UTV vehicle for the Sheriff's Office Tuesday.  

Morrison took over as sheriff this month after defeating incumbent Sheriff Brian Burnett in November's election. 

He also told commissioners that most of his staffing changes are already in place. So far, they include Undersheriff Dan Ozment, Chief of Special Operations Ryan Moody, Chief Civil Deputy Kim Oglesbee and Executive Assistant April Moore  

In addition, Morrison told commissioners his office is trying to contract with an outside group to do an assessment of their internal operations.  

He said his office would continue to communicate with the public to make sure their talking with the cities of Leavenworth, Cashmere, Entiat, Chelan and Manson just to make sure the Sheriff's Office is contractually meeting their needs.