By John McCallum
Editor 

Rick Beghtol named Cheney's Officer of the Year

 

Last updated 1/26/2017 at 3:43pm

John McCallum

Rick Beghtol served for over 26 years with the Washington State Patrol handling criminal investigations and narcotics enforcement before coming to the Cheney Police Department.

Cheney's 2016 Officer of the Year, Capt. Rick Beghtol, has an insight into how Spokane's West Central Community Center partly came into being.

Beghtol, who moved to the Spokane neighborhood also known as "Felony Flats" from Colorado when he was nine years old, said one of his brother's friends accidentally started a fire that burned down the mechanic's shop on the current property. After that, the property sat vacant until the early 1980s when funding enabled the building of the center.

Beghtol's 38-year career in law enforcement has been anything but vacant, however. A graduate of North Central High School and Spokane Falls Community College, Beghtol spent most of that career with the Washington State Patrol, first as a trooper in Vancouver then a few years in Spokane before transferring to Yakima.

The first six years were as a line officer, followed by an assignment to investigations and then two years with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. After that, he took charge of the Lower Valley Narcotics Task Force - a demanding position he held for 17 years.

"Working down there, it's tough," Beghtol said. "You'd work 24 hours a day (straight) or more."

In 2004, a promotion put Beghtol back in uniform in Bremerton. After two years, he returned to criminal investigations in Yakima, declining work in narcotics in favor of cases such as homicide, public corruption and felonies.

Beghtol then became the Washington/Idaho/Oregon coordinator for the federal Metamphetamine and Chemical Initiative, which was subsequently changed to the Methamphetamine, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Initiative. After a period, he resumed command of the narcotics task force, but began to see the writing on the wall that retirement might be wise - working on three shooting incidents where each time, his involvement seemed to inch him closer to personal danger.

"If you triffle in there, something bad will happen," Beghtol said.

Beghtol retired and returned to Spokane, where he had family and connections in law enforcement. Eastern Washington University Police Chief Tim Walters and Deputy Chief Gary Gasseling served with him in the State Patrol, and eventually Beghtol was hired at EWU where he worked as the night shift patrol sergeant from 2008 to April 2011 when he heard about an upcoming opening at the Cheney Police Department.

Beghtol applied for the position and was hired in September 2012, coming in as a sergeant in charge of investigations and patrol. This past June, he was promoted to captain and put in charge of the field operations division as a part of a department reorganization, taking on responsibilities for the property room, fleet management, traffic, special events, gangs and narcotics, among other things.

It was his previous work, Beghtol said, with patrol and investigations that led to his selection as Officer of the Year, providing assistance and valuable experience in both areas to other officers.

"He takes whatever time is needed to mentor his officers and he always has time to listen to their problems," Police Chief John Hensley said in an email. "He shares his expertise freely and helps others with search warrants, complicated investigations, and evidence handling and storage. He places the needs of the department and employees above his own and his character is beyond reproach."

Beghtol places high value on the honor, and enjoys the challenges of working in the department and being part of the community. The people he works with care about the community and he considers everyone "close friends," adding that in other larger departments, things can become compartmentalized.

"Here, you don't do that," he said. "Here, everybody's heart is in the right place and they want to do the right thing."

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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