Veteran sheriff's sergeant takes the lead on La Conner policing

With the last name Holmes, it was only natural that he entered law enforcement.

And with interests in boating and basketball and a knack for building relationships, the La Conner detachment office seems an ideal assignment for veteran Skagit County Sheriff's Sgt. Brad Holmes.

Holmes, who has worked nearly a quarter-century in a wide range of police services, has succeeded retired Sgt. Beau Montgomery as lead officer in La Conner.

"I put in for La Conner a while ago," Holmes, who has an extensive background in both search-and-rescue and crisis response and negotiation, told the Weekly News. "I let Beau know that I'd be interested."

Holmes, who played hoops at Mount Vernon High School during the program's heyday in the early 1990s, has hit the ground running here. He has begun giving the detachment office, which adjoins historic Town Hall, a makeover.

"I want the office to be a place that provides the deputies everything they need when they're working in La Conner," he said. "I want to make it something that encourages deputies to come out here."

Yet Holmes doesn't envision those deputies solely working out of sight within office cubicles.

"We want to be a presence in the town," he said. "We want to be seen. Visibility is very important. Maintaining that visible presence is a good thing."

For his own focus, Holmes began eyeing a career in law enforcement while still a teenager. In high school, he enrolled in the sheriff's office cadet program. He then studied criminal justice at Spokane Community College.

Completing the rigorous college curriculum was just half the battle, though. He entered what in the late 1990s was a highly competitive job market.

"Back then," he recalled, "you'd have 100 or more applicants for just one or two open positions on a (police) department."

Holmes broke through in 1999 when he was hired for a patrol position by the Burlington Police Department. Two years later he joined the sheriff's office, where Holmes has since built a long and varied resume.

He completed a patrol assignment out of the east Skagit County detachment office in Concrete, then moved into the sheriff's search-and-rescue unit, ultimately rising to its top spot, coordinating efforts to find distressed boaters and kayakers and hikers late returning from outings.

"Running search-and-rescue is a tough one," he noted. "It's great when you find someone, but you end up doing a lot on the recovery side as well."

Holmes' inherent compassion has likewise proved invaluable as a crisis negotiator, a role that has earned him numerous speaking engagements around the country. At crisis scenes, Holmes has spent tense hours de-escalating potentially deadly situations and talking people out of harming themselves or others.

Sometimes his mission has been to limit damage already done.

Perhaps the best known of Holmes' crisis intervention work was the six hours he spent on the phone with a man later convicted for having shot and blinded Mount Vernon Police officer Michael "Mick" McClaughry in December 2016.

"You learn to be an active listener," he said. "We train all the time."

Holmes is a staunch proponent of proactive rather than reactive policing. That's why his aim is to promote more foot patrols and citizen interaction in La Conner, which is part of a local 10-minute sheriff's office coverage zone.

"The goal is to have more in-town time," Holmes said.

Away from work, Holmes enjoys family time with his wife, Susan, and the couple's teenaged sons, Bergan and Micah, on their Bow area homestead.

The Holmes' are avid devotees to the outdoors. They camp – Chelan is a favorite destination – raise sheep and pigs and ride dirt bikes.

Meanwhile, Brad Holmes has added La Conner to his list of favorites. He is looking forward to shifting into a new administrative role here and becoming involved in the community, especially with La Conner Schools.

"I like the small town feel and all the boats," he said. "Right now, I want to get to know more about La Conner and how we can best meet everyone's needs."