Washington state Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, seen here on Jan. 15, was among the lawmakers speaking out against comments Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank made this week to a committee she chairs. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard)
Three Washington state senators said the biting testimony Pierce County’s sheriff delivered during a committee hearing Thursday was threatening to legislators.
Sheriff Keith Swank delivered the remarks to the Senate Law and Justice Committee, stating his opposition to legislation that would set stricter eligibility requirements for people to serve as sheriffs and in other law enforcement leadership jobs. In his roughly 90 seconds of comments, Swank also remarked on a bill that would restrict officers from wearing masks.
“My deputies don’t wear masks, but once you pass this law that they can’t, I would not only allow them, but I would encourage them to do so just to see what you do,” he said.
“I don’t recognize your authority to impose these controls over me and when you try to remove me from office, thousands of Pierce County residents will surround the County-City Building in downtown Tacoma and will not allow that to happen,” he continued. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I, and they, are prepared. Are you prepared?”
The sponsor of the bill on eligibility standards for law enforcement officials, Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, served as a state trooper and Snohomish County sheriff.
He saw Swank’s comments asking if lawmakers were “prepared” as “very, very threatening.” He compared Swank’s intimidating behavior to Eugene “Bull” Connor, the 20th-century Alabama police leader who opposed civil rights for Black people and was known for ordering the use of fire hoses and police dogs on demonstrators.
“He just doesn’t represent what law enforcement is supposed to represent,” Lovick said.
As a sheriff, Lovick said he wanted to set the example for his rank-and-file deputies.
“I want them to display the same characteristics I have,” Lovick said. “If I go and talk to legislators like that, they might feel compelled to speak to the public that way.”
Law and Justice Committee Chair Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, said she has a thick skin after being a prosecutor for 20 years.
“I recognized threats in his speech, but I do not get intimidated by bullies,” she said Friday.
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs condemned Swank’s comments as “inflammatory” and said it plans to initiate proceedings to consider expelling him from the organization.
“The scope of his testimony went beyond reasonable dialogue and devolved into what could be perceived as threatening to legislators and he challenged their constitutional authority,” association leadership said in a statement. “The manner in which he conducted himself was not in line with the professional behavior we expect of members.”
The association noted it also has “grave concerns” with the legislation.
Dhingra appreciates the association’s move to potentially expel Swank, but it is “something that should’ve been handled a long time ago,” citing Swank’s history of controversial behavior in office.
Just this month, Swank clashed with Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders in the aftermath of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shooting a woman in her car in Minnesota.
“PSA: if law enforcement tells you to stop. STOP,” Swank wrote on social media. “You can always sue later if your rights were violated. Even if you are right, do you want to be dead right?”
Sanders believed Swank was mocking the woman’s death, leading to a tense back-and-forth. Swank has also faced backlash for disparaging transgender people and defending those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
A spokesperson for the association of sheriffs and police chiefs declined to comment on whether Swank’s prior controversies played a role in its decision to begin expulsion proceedings.
Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, who serves as vice chair of the Law and Justice Committee, said she felt more directly threatened by Swank’s comments Thursday as she lives in Pierce County. The Tacoma Democrat argued it showed how “off the rails he actually is.”
“I think he’s an embarrassment to the profession,” she said.
There isn’t a timeline for a decision on Swank’s future with the Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, spokesperson Barbara Smith said.
Eight members of the organization’s 14-member board would be needed to remove Swank from the organization, which wouldn’t affect his position as the elected county sheriff. The influential group advocates on behalf of law enforcement leaders and administers some state-funded programs.
Swank worked for the Seattle Police Department for 33 years before retiring in 2023. He won a tight election to become Pierce County sheriff in November 2024. Pierce County, home to Tacoma, has about 940,000 residents.
Swank didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a social media post, he included the testimony he would’ve given if he had more time. In it, he called Democratic lawmakers “evil” and compared them to President Donald Trump.
“You Democrats hate President Trump so much, yet you do the very things you accuse him of doing such as imposing these types of controls over other independently elected officials,” Swank wrote.
Swank also wrote that his potential expulsion from the sheriffs and police chiefs association “is what happens when you don’t tow the party line.”
Lovick’s bill would require elected sheriffs to meet the same, new heightened eligibility standards as appointed police chiefs and marshals and would force them to undergo a background check. It also limits the use of volunteers amid concerns of so-called “posses” that rural sheriffs sometimes build. It is set for a vote from the Law and Justice Committee next week.
Swank is the subject of three Criminal Justice Training Commission cases related to his certification as a law enforcement officer, but none appear to have been assigned to an investigator, according to the commission. Under the bill, if he were decertified, he would have to vacate his role as sheriff.
This post was originally authored and published by Jake Goldstein-Street from Washington State Standard via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
