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Despite his 37 years in law enforcement, Ed Troyer says it wasn鈥檛 until he decided to run for election two years ago that he started feeling the squeeze of politics on himself 鈥� and his office.

Two days after a Pierce County jury unanimously found Troyer not guilty of two misdemeanors involving false reporting, Pierce County鈥檚 top cop talked to Friday鈥檚 Dori Monson Show about the ordeal, programs he wants to expand 鈥� and whether he would run for reelection.

鈥淎s soon as I stuck my first election sign in the ground, I started getting threats,鈥� Troyer told Dori鈥檚 listeners. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a strange experience, but one that I鈥檓 built for.鈥�

Prior to being sheriff, much of Troyer鈥檚 37-year law enforcement career was as a public information officer for the sheriff鈥檚 department. In that role, he was involved in supporting at-risk kids with holiday gifts and families of officers who died in the line of duty.

Exclusive: Sheriff Troyer acquitted, says governor, AG were ‘coming after me’

But as many city and county governments around Washington started pushing for police chiefs and sheriffs to be appointed by leaders 鈥� and not elected by voters 鈥� Troyer said he found himself at odds with long-time elected officials, including Gov. Jay Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

Dealing with partisan politics was his weakness, he told Dori.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter how much goodwill you have; they will come after you because you don鈥檛 agree with what they say,鈥� Troyer said.

His move to hire 60 people from different law enforcement agencies from around the state 鈥� regardless of their COVID vaccination status 鈥� made some statewide officials 鈥渁 little cranky . . . I鈥檝e heard many times that there are people in state government who aren鈥檛 happy that we鈥檙e doing that.鈥�

Advocating to keep the sheriff鈥檚 position elected 鈥� and not appointed 鈥� has also earned him some pushback, he said.

鈥淭here are a lot of great (appointed) police chiefs, and they have to be careful with what they say because they can lose their jobs,鈥� Troyer said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the case with elected sheriffs.

鈥淓ven if it鈥檚 not me 鈥� whoever it is 鈥� you want to be able to elect your sheriff,鈥� Troyer added.

鈥淚 certainly don鈥檛 want Pierce County to turn into Seattle,鈥� where the county executive chooses the sheriff and the mayor selects the police chief, he continued. 鈥淒uring my election, I said, ‘don鈥檛 King County our Pierce.’ There is no way I鈥檓 going to let Pierce County turn into the mess that is up in Seattle.鈥�

Publicity surrounding the accusations connected to the November 2021 middle-of-the-night incident with a newspaper deliveryman has overshadowed 鈥渃oncrete鈥� 鈥渞eally good programs鈥� grown or expanded in the past two years, he continued.

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Troyer praised his department鈥檚 Co-Respond program, which embeds mental health experts with sheriff deputies. What started with three of these specialists is now budgeted for nine, he added. In their work, these teams have handled responses involving cases involving deadly weapons and suicide threats.

Similarly, the Alternative Response team has embedded deputies with social workers who handle calls involving homeless drug addicts and cases involving mental health crises.

Troyer also pointed to the department鈥檚 Health and Wellness Office, which supports officers experiencing depression or 鈥渇eeling lack of support from the community.鈥�

He told Dori鈥檚 listeners that he鈥檚 鈥減roud that we hired 60 people when other departments are down,鈥� adding that it鈥檚 important to 鈥渞etain good employees.鈥�

Finally, Dori wanted to know: Is Troyer going to run for re-election in two years after his four-year term is over?

When first elected, Troyer answered, 鈥渋t was really clear … one term to try and get done what I could.鈥�

Disruptions from the trial, however, have made Troyer reconsider.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 made that decision yet, but I鈥檝e started to take a look,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 only 61 and I have a few more good years left in me … I鈥檝e got a great staff and a great crew and I think we鈥檒l be able to take care of business as long as we need to.鈥�

Listen to Dori Monson weekday afternoons from noon 鈥� 3 p.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.