La Conner's top cop retires

After 31 years in law enforcement, Skagit County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kelly Howell’s last day on the job is Friday.

He’s been the commander of the Sheriff’s La Conner detachment since last January.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s a new chapter in my life,” he said of his upcoming retirement. “It’s something that you look at when you’re younger, thinking it’s never going to be here — but before you know it, it’s here.”

The core philosophy of policing, for him, is to serve the community rather than solely enforcing the rules, he said.

“I’ve always looked at myself in that light,” he said. “I’m there to help.”

Howell, who grew up in Concrete, said he was inspired to study law enforcement because he saw the small town police chief, Bud Clark, as someone who was always nice to him and the community.

He was first hired by the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office in December 1985 as a corrections deputy working in the jail. He was 21 and a graduate of Skagit Valley College, he said.

After briefly working in that position, he moved over to the Sheriff’s patrol division. He worked throughout the county, including in his hometown of Concrete, and then was promoted to sergeant five years ago.

Howell also taught the DARE anti-drug program at La Conner Elementary School in 1991.

After all these years, it’ll be a big change for him take off his badge and uniform to be an “average citizen,” instead of a police officer. Perhaps a challenging one, Howell said, especially if he witnesses situations and won’t be able to respond the way he normally would.

“It’s going to be strange. That’s something I’ve thought about,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever think of myself as an ‘average civilian,’ — I’ll always look at society through the lens of law enforcement.”

His family is his top priority, Howell said, and he’s grateful to the department and his supervisors for understanding and having the same priorities themselves.

His youngest son his heading off to college next fall, Howell said, so don’t count him out of the workforce quite yet — he might find something else to do to help pay for tuition.

Currently, he’s a softball coach at Concrete High School. His wife, Brooke, is an eighth-grade history teacher in Sedro-Woolley.

His advice to the sergeant who will take his current La Conner position, Tobin Meyer, is to go into the job with an open mind.

The most difficult situations as an officer are responding to calls involving small children, especially those being abused or living in poverty, he said. But he says working with youth is also one of the joys of his job.

“Making them understand the mistakes they make don’t define them,” Howell said. He wants them to break out of generational family problems, to help them “turn out good” and end the cycle before they have kids of their own.

The first thing he wants to do upon retiring is go on an extended vacation, he said, but he’ll probably have to stick around for a little while as he finishes coaching softball. He looks forward to spending more time with his wife and three children, 18-year-old Treyton, Brittany who is 28, and Kyler, 24.

Howell said he has enjoyed his time in La Conner and liked working with the mayor, administrator and public works people.

“Working with the town has been a pleasure,” he said.