U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- On the same day his department was honoring the memory of a deputy gunned down in the line of duty by an armed, convicted felon, another lawman in a department two counties away was allegedly shot and then run over by another convicted felon. Now Pierce County, WA Sheriff Ed Troyer is saying the community is suffering from what he called a “failed experiment.”
One of Troyer’s deputies, Dominique “Dom” Calata, was fatally wounded in an exchange of gunfire with a man wanted on assault charges earlier this month. Within hours of a memorial service for Calata, Police officer Dan Rocha was murdered in an altercation, allegedly with a man who has a long criminal history in Eastern Washington’s Tri-Cities area including multiple felonies.
That suspect, identified as Richard Rotter, is being held on $5 million bail.
Over the weekend, Sheriff Troyer posted this message on Facebook:
“At the end of our service for Dom, we learned Everett Officer Rocha was killed in the line duty. Not just police officers, homicide rates of citizens are skyrocketing. Neither of these cop killing suspects should have been out of jail. Same with the other homicide suspects in the first 3 months of this year. We are all in this together. The liberal, progressive, socialist experiments have failed. Time to stop.”
If there may be an example of the “failed experiment,” it might be Rotter, the suspect in Rocha’s killing. Seattle’s KOMO News reported, “Rotter was the subject of two outstanding warrants, including one for domestic violence assault and a hit-and-run case, both of which were filed in Benton County, according to prosecutors.”
Police in Kennewick, a city in south-central Washington, had issued an officer-safety alert for Rotter.
The Everett Herald reported Rotter was spotted “moving guns from one car to another,” which—as a convicted felon—he should not have been doing. KCPQ News said Rotter “has a lengthy criminal history including at least 18 felonies and hundreds of contacts with Kennewick Police over the years.” Talk radio hosts in Seattle were uniformly wondering how this suspect was even out on the streets with that kind of record.
In an exclusive telephone interview, Troyer suggested the way to start turning this scenario around is to lock up criminals instead of releasing them almost automatically.
But in the Puget Sound region, where Pierce and neighboring King County are located, conservatives argue that liberal policies of entrenched Democrat-majority governments have become a magnet for a criminal element.
Washington state passed both the “Three Strikes” and “Hard Time for Armed Crime” initiatives almost 30 years ago, but without enforcement, those laws cannot accomplish anything. Troyer said property crimes—everything from shoplifting to auto theft—are up, and so are homicides. In 2020, the most recent year for which data is available, the FBI Uniform Crime Report says Washington posted 298 murders, including 177 with firearms. In 2019, the state reported 194 slayings, including 135 involving guns, according to FBI data for that year.
Troyer concurred more people are licensed to carry. Meanwhile, police have been under attack and there are manpower shortages. It’s almost like a “perfect storm” with good and evil on a collision course.
A check with the state Department of Licensing earlier this month showed Pierce County has more than 76,000 active concealed pistol licenses, the second-highest number of any county in the state. In neighboring King County, the number was above 98,000. Snohomish County, encompassing Everett, has more than 68,000.
Washington has had Democrats in the Governor’s office for more than 35 years. Democrats have held the legislative majority for many years. Last year, Democrats rammed through a “police reform” bill that proved so onerous it was rolled back this year because the public is tired of rising crime and their local police being effectively handcuffed.
According to U.S. News. “Rep. Jesse Johnson, the Federal Way Democrat who sponsored House Bill 1310, said restricting the ability of police to detain fleeing suspects was unintentional. The measure signed by Inslee Thursday allows police to do their jobs while also requiring them to use no more force than necessary.”
This begs the question, “How much force is considered necessary when someone is trying to kill you?”
Troyer told AmmoLand his agency is working to address the needs of people who are truly distressed. Under his leadership, the sheriff’s department has created a program pairing deputies with social workers who can deal with mental health and other social issues. He calls this effort the “Alternative Response Team,” and it is showing promise. He has mental health professionals embedded with deputies who can be available to deal with genuine hardship.
At the same time, the veteran lawman observed, “We just can’t let hardcore felons run amok.”
With some chagrin, he noted felons aren’t supposed to have guns, but they get them, and not by buying them from local gun stores.
Troyer said there are 43 vacancies in his department, and that includes people who are on military leave. He estimated one-third of Pierce County’s commissioned deputies are also in the military, a fact he is very proud of. Slain officer Calata was one of those double-duty individuals.
“We’re going to turn the tide,” Troyer said with determination. “We’re going to start holding people accountable. Instead of complaining about what we can’t do, let’s focus on what we can do.”
Troyer said he is working with the County Executive and County Prosecutor to open the jails back up and put people, particularly repeat offenders, behind bars.
One other thing the sheriff mentioned is his steadfast belief that county sheriffs should be elected, rather than appointed.
“You don’t hear city police chiefs talking like this because they’d lose their jobs,” he observed.
In King County in 2020, voters approved a measure to make their sheriff an appointed position. Prior to the 2020 election, the Washington State Sheriff’s Association stated in a letter, “The accountability and responsiveness of an elected Sheriff is critical to public safety in our communities. Sheriffs are, and should remain, directly accountable to the people.”
But in liberal King County—the state’s most populous, and long dominated by Democrats—voters by a 62-38 percent margin, voted the other way.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
Agreed! Thinking back about the DemoKKKrats such as Kamala Harris, the FRAUDULENT vIce pResident who, is said to have, raised funds to “bail these CRIMINALS” out of jails!
Thanks Dave, this article lays the situation out very succinctly. However, perhaps it’s time for everyone who pens an article about the revolving door justice name the names of the judges who routinely let these bastards free, then maybe the robed tyrants my fear repercussions from the citizens for their actions?
Prison should be reserved for other crimes, involuntary manslaughter, or aggravated assault, not murder
The best way to deter criminals is through aggressive Law enforcement. The minimum force necessary when someone is trying to kill you is to create Hydraulic Failure in their system through creating many or massive leaks!
Perhaps because I am in my 9th decade I have an active Texas CHL and carry all the time. I hope never to have to resort to use of my weapon(s), but I cannot rule out that possibility, especially now in the days where the honest citizen is the suspect and the villain is the noble hero. An old saying that I believe applies to our present pro-criminal madness is, “The greatest inducement to committing a crime is the belief that one will not be caught and, if caught, that one will not be punished”. I hope this national trend… Read more »
Meanwhile the tyrants occupying the Marble Zoo in Olympia are pretending they are “fixing the problem” by making criminals out of any of us who happen to have firearms that come with magazines that hold more than ten rounds. As f making us less able to defend ourselves (normal tax funded law enforcement certainly can’t do the job with their hands tied behind their backs) will reduce crime and lawlessness. Overpaid shills, that’s what they are.
Some counties have great sheriffs. Those are ALL elected.
“We just can’t let hardcore felons run amok.”
Well, that depends.
Do you want an “equitable” outcome?
(After DiBlasio destroyed NYC . . . they elected ANOTHER DEMOCRAT to replace him . . . so don’t get your hopes up for change.)
The troubles start long before it gets in front of a judge. These problems stem from policy decisions, and sentencing guidelines made by city and county councils and the DA’s that answer to them, although they’re elected by the people(yeah, that’s working well). They’re the ones who determine what is or what isn’t a crime anymore, what will be prosecuted and what won’t. For instance…police here can no longer give chase to someone who commits a crime and speeds away in a car at dangerous speeds. Guess how criminals are leaving the crime scenes? This is one instance among thousands… Read more »
Mr. Workman, Another great article you wrote and very factual. Sheriff Troyer is correct in saying about those who need to be held responsible for the failed policies of the progressive left. It’s not only the progressive pols who need to be held accountable, itis also those who initially propose these ideas and present them to elected officials. I live in Blue NJ, and I’m pro 2A and support gun rights . Apparently these progressives either ignore or fail to recognize their policies are failures, gun control one of them and there are other failures too. Illegal immigration at the… Read more »
It was always my belief if a felon got caught with a gun and was engauged in another crime it added 8 years onto his sentence and the years to serve went up from there. Soft courts serve nobody also kill a cop should be a automatic death sentence.