Police chief retires again

Chief Rick Balam, who came out of retirement last year to lead the Swinomish Police Department through a turbulent period as the former police chief was prosecuted for theft, has put away his badge again.

Former chief Thomas Schlicker pleaded guilty to stealing tribal funds and was sentenced to 16 months in prison on Nov. 10.

Balam, who was the police chief decades ago, came back to work for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community last September after Schlicker was fired to lead the department and to investigate the allegations against Schlicker throughout his prosecution.

“With his goals accomplished, Rick submitted his resignation effective Friday, November 20, 2015 and returned to his retire-ment in Twisp, Washington,” the tribe’s General Manager Allan Olson stated in an email.

According to Olson, Balam was Swinomish Chief of Police in the 1980s. He was first on the scene and the first officer in pursuit when a bank on First Street in La Conner — now Anelia’s Kitchen and Stage — was robbed. The robber drove into a ditch and was captured at Best and Chilberg roads, but not before he shot at Balam six times.

Olson recalls that when Balam responded to the robbery call, he had noticed a car that looked out of place parked on a lawn at Washington and Whatcom streets.

“He circled back, and when he saw a man get into the car and drive off at high speed, he realized that this was the man who had just robbed the bank,” Olson wrote. “He pursued the car to the corner of Chilberg and Best roads, where the fleeing bank robber went into the ditch trying to make the turn at high speed. When Chief Balam stopped his car, the bank robber got out of his car and fired six shots at Chief Balam before throwing his gun in the air and giving up.”

After that incident, Balam left law enforcement for a time and moved to Eastern Washington, Olson said. Later he worked for the Brewster and Winthrop police departments and was Chief of Police in Twisp, retiring from that post in 2012.

On Nov. 16, Balam submitted a two-sentence letter of resignation effective Nov. 20 that ended with, “I will always feel that I am a part of the community and wish all the best.”