New BFPD Garrett on board

BONNERS FERRY — Officer Jeremy Garrett has joined the Bonners Ferry Police Department.

Garrett originally thought he would go to school to be an elementary physical education teacher but in talking over his options, a school counselor encouraged him to look into criminal justice. Garrett followed the suggestion and found it was a perfect fit.

Garrett has a bachelor's degree in sociology with a concentration in criminal justice and a minor in psychology and a master's in criminal justice executive leadership.

Garrett grew up in Pickens County, S.C., in the small town of Liberty. Garrett and his family always wanted to live in the western United States so he and his wife and children moved to Pasco, Wash., in 2008 after being a Deputy in South Carolina for nine and a half years.

“We fell in love with the Pacific Northwest,” Garrett said.

For the last three years, Garrett has been working with the police department in Pasco. Garrett comes very highly recommended from his prior employer, BFPD officials said.

Marty Ryan, BFPD assistant chief, said PPD Det. Sgt Scott Warren, told him he couldn’t go wrong with hiring Garrett. Warren had also completed an extensive background check on Garrett in 2017 and was his polygraph operator.

"Hire him, you will not regret it. And if we had the chance to hire him again, I would be beating the chief’s door down making the same recommendation,” Warren said.

“He has a good reputation with both his supervisors as well as his peers. He is known as a very dedicated family man,” Ryan said. “[Garrett] is a good investigator and a consistently level headed professional in stressful and challenging conditions.”

“If he lives up to the background persona I have had the pleasure to learn about, he will be a perfect fit for our department and our community,” Ryan said in recommendation to BFPD.

“He's been on board now for a couple of weeks,” BFPD Chief Brian Zimmerman said. “He's got another week or so of orientation. And he comes with experience from South Carolina, as well as Washington state. […] We're just tickled to death to have him on board.”