Six months on the job, Whatcom County Sheriff Donnell Tanksley, known to friends and the community as “Tank,” is feeling good about his role in his new position, including starting the work toward accomplishing a campaign goal and addressing challenges within the jail.
Part of the 21-year law enforcement professional’s campaign platform was ensuring all Whatcom sheriff deputies receive 40 hours of training on behavioral crisis intervention. Now, two of his deputies will be attending a 40-hour course in Thurston County. Tanksley will also head to Virginia later this fall to learn more about management and jail administration from the National Institute of Corrections.
Additionally, Tanksley is looking at what opportunities the new Justice Center could offer those incarcerated and help divert them from further justice interaction. Tanksley admits his office is facing several challenges, including space constraints and funding, but he’s working with the county and community.
Cascadia Daily News sat down with Tanksley at the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office in the basement of the jail for a 30-minute conversation about his role over the last six months, challenges he’s faced and opportunities he’s finding as he serves as sheriff. Responses have been edited for content and clarity.
It’s been six months since you were sworn in, how are things going right now?
Tanksley: I feel really good about it. My predecessor, Sheriff Bill Elfo, was here for 20 years. When you have a new leader come in, it’s important to take a look at the entire organization and it’s important to evaluate.
I think the biggest thing is learning all the people because our strength here is our teammates and the members here. I’ve been around to every division, and I’ve gotten a chance to introduce myself. But also, it’s just not about introducing myself. It’s going to take some time to get to know them and make sure that they have the tools they need in order to be successful in their jobs as well.
Last fall, you spoke about goals you had for the Sheriff’s Office including opportunities for behavioral health crisis trainings as well as an Indigenous persons liaison. Where do those goals sit now?
Some of those goals are in motion and right now, some we haven’t gotten to yet.
In terms of the crisis intervention training program that I talked about, currently in the state of Washington, it’s not mandatory for a general jurisdiction law enforcement officer to have the 40-hour crisis intervention certification course. We’re working with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission to get that course here in Whatcom County. One of our lieutenants is heading that program.
In fact, next week, he and a sergeant are going down to the Lacey area to do the 40-hour certification course themselves, so they can get a bird’s eye view of what’s being taught around the state. So when we get to the point where we can implement ours, we have some people already on the ground that are already certified.
Why is it important to have that training here in Whatcom County?
I think it’s important that every deputy has that skill set. For example, there may be a call for service at 2 a.m. and we might not have one of those deputies that’s in a behavioral health unit. If we ensure that all our deputies have those skills and tools, they’re able to deal with that situation and then be able to pass on that information to one of the behavioral health deputies later.
There’s a community expectation that we have the tools to deal with people in crisis. The advantage of having that here is that when we teach the course to first responders, we’re talking about resources here in Whatcom County versus resources elsewhere.
The proposed Justice Center facility in Ferndale is getting off ground, with funding solidified from the cities and the county. Since the facility will be under your office’s umbrella, what are some of the items you want to see included?
For me, the whole purpose of any type of incarceration, probation or parole is to rehabilitate and to lower recidivism. We also want to be able to provide opportunities and my hope with the Justice Center is that we do just that, but also it’s our obligation as the Sheriff’s Office. When people do enter our facility, we are responsible for them.
With this new Justice Center, we definitely need programming. In fact, last month, I went to talk to the presidents of Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Technical College about what programs might look like in the new Justice Center. I’m also having conversations with our trade unions to see if they’re interested in coming into the new Justice Center.
Something that a lot of people aren’t talking about is we need a new Sheriff’s Office. We have our employees, our records division, our civil division, our detectives and evidence here. My hope is to have the new Sheriff’s Office built at the same location where the new Justice Center has been planned. I mean, this is a basement. There’s nowhere to expand. Space allocation is a big challenge because every day we’re thinking, ‘Where can we move this person to, or that person?’ It’s very, very tight.
Speaking of challenges, what are some you’ve encountered in the last six months?
I would say one of the challenges certainly is always funding. For example, one of the things that we’re going to ask the county council for in the next month is two extra full-time employees in corrections to be K-9 handlers.
What I’m trying to do is actually have K-9s that are specialized in opioid detection, assigned to the jail itself in response to the number of illicit drugs entering the facility. There’s a few sheriff’s offices in the state that have that to include the Department of Corrections, and it really is tremendously important to detect any type of narcotics to keep people safe in our facility.
Are the K-9s in response to the recent overdose deaths in the jail?
Yes, but it’s been a response not just to the overdose deaths this year, but in the past few years. It’s a tremendous challenge to law enforcement agencies and to the Department of Corrections to combat any illicit drugs being entered into the facility.
How are you making sure incidents like those don’t happen in the future?
When individuals are initially brought into the jail, they are asked medical questions in a secured booth. Those questions include inquiries on drug use and mental health questions regarding any concerns that corrections deputies and jail medical or mental health staff members should be aware of. From there, they are brought into a secure area of the jail to be patted down. They are also asked if they are bringing anything into the facility that is not allowed.
There have been instances where inmates have wrapped and swallowed or inserted suspected opioids into their body cavity to get them into the facility. The Whatcom County jail never performs cavity searches. Industry-wide, correctional facilities, including the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Bureau, are evaluating the capabilities of scanner detection systems. The [Corrections Bureau] is currently in the process of upgrading security measures by introducing state-of-the-art, whole-body scanners. We have selected the most suitable scanner replacements for our jail and are currently finalizing the confirmation process. This upgrade aims to strengthen our security protocols and improve the overall safety of our facility.
How are you engaging the community? Are your deputies getting more involved?
I’m starting to get more invites to groups, from senior citizen groups to students groups. It’s the season of parades.
But community engagement is highly important to me and our deputies have been more engaged as well. I think it’s important for the community to know that we’re part of the community and to also have facial recognition. I encourage all my deputies to introduce themselves. I’m big on giving cards because you never know when someone might have a question. It’s about reaching people and it’s about showing people that we’re here for them.
Is there anything else you want to add?
I’m still 100 percent committed to ensuring that the people that are in our facility are safe, and that there are opportunities.
I will tell you that nationwide, 95 percent of the people that are incarcerated — even if they go to prison, are going to be out sometime. They’re going to be your neighbor, my neighbor, our neighbor and we all want good neighbors. I think it’s up to the community to ensure that we provide the best facility that Whatcom County can for our neighbors. It’s not cheap, but it’s so important that we invest now. It’s important that we build a facility that’s accommodating and big enough, but it also has the resources within those facilities to ensure that we have behavioral health treatment and to ensure that we have opportunities for people to have resources before they leave.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
