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5 things you should know about your sheriff

Chuck Atkins is first new person to hold job in 24 years

By Emily Gillespie, Columbian Breaking News Reporter
Published: June 3, 2015, 12:00am
4 Photos
Five things you should know about Sheriff Chuck Atkins, shown, Friday, May 29, 2015.(Steven Lane/The Columbian)
Five things you should know about Sheriff Chuck Atkins, shown, Friday, May 29, 2015.(Steven Lane/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

o He received an honor from President Bill Clinton for his work in the DARE program, served on the SWAT team and produced a video testing system for potential new deputies.

o He worked alongside his brother, Vancouver police Cpl. Craig Atkins, for 26 years. The two were K-9 officers at the same time.

o If he had a super power, he’d want to fly or read your thoughts. Well, maybe not read your thoughts, unless you are a suspect in a crime or his former K-9 partner, Titan.

o He and his wife haven’t had a dog since Titan died, but they do have a Siamese cat named Yum Yum.

o He received an honor from President Bill Clinton for his work in the DARE program, served on the SWAT team and produced a video testing system for potential new deputies.

o He worked alongside his brother, Vancouver police Cpl. Craig Atkins, for 26 years. The two were K-9 officers at the same time.

o If he had a super power, he'd want to fly or read your thoughts. Well, maybe not read your thoughts, unless you are a suspect in a crime or his former K-9 partner, Titan.

o He and his wife haven't had a dog since Titan died, but they do have a Siamese cat named Yum Yum.

o His wife, Lorna Atkins, helped bring an Atlanta-based nonprofit called Teach One to Lead One to Vancouver. The community mentoring program aims to help at-risk kids, especially during their freshman year. When she was an employee with the Evergreen School District, Lorna Atkins helped start the program at Mountain View High School. Today, the nonprofit serves more than 400 students in six Clark County schools.

o His wife, Lorna Atkins, helped bring an Atlanta-based nonprofit called Teach One to Lead One to Vancouver. The community mentoring program aims to help at-risk kids, especially during their freshman year. When she was an employee with the Evergreen School District, Lorna Atkins helped start the program at Mountain View High School. Today, the nonprofit serves more than 400 students in six Clark County schools.

This year marks the first time a new face has led the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in 24 years, with 60-year-old Republican Chuck Atkins stepping into the leading role. He’s been sheriff for nearly six months now, but how much do you really know about Atkins? The Columbian sat down with the Clark County sheriff and got to know him on a personal level. Here are five things we learned:

1. When he comes home from police work … he watches police work

The television show that Atkins can’t turn off when it’s on? “The First 48.” The real-crime documentary series follows detectives during the first two days following a homicide. Atkins attended the FBI Academy and worked as a detective investigating violent crimes in the early 1980s, so he knows firsthand that the likelihood of solving a crime is cut in half if you don’t at least identify a suspect during this time frame. He also enjoys news magazine shows such as “20/20” and “Dateline,” and watches “Modern Family” when he wants some mindless fun.

2. His sister’s disabilities helped shape him

His sister Kelli, four years his junior, contracted German measles, and complications from the disease led her to become deaf and blind. The Atkins family moved from San Jose, Calif., to Clark County before Chuck Atkins’ sophomore year of high school so that Kelli Atkins could attend the Washington School for the Deaf. “She wasn’t supposed to live until she was 4, let alone 40,” he said. Kelli Atkins died in 2002 at age 43. When Atkins and his siblings were younger, they developed their own language to communicate, and that experience helped him become comfortable around people with disabilities. “Early on, it made me understand that there are people out there who are different and I really got to see how being different can have a huge impact on people,” he said.

3. When you talk to him, he can’t help but bring up his family

With two kids and seven grandkids, Chuck Atkins carves out a week each summer for a trip and invites the whole family. “I’m really a family man,” he said. He can’t go long without mentioning his wife of 42 years, Lorna Atkins. The two enjoy volunteering, motorcycle riding, camping and traveling together all over the United States. The couple moved from a 2-acre house on a dead-end road north of Lewisville Park to Vancouver’s Sunnyside neighborhood last year so that they could be closer to their family.

4. He’s been shot at twice, but neither was his worst call

Atkins said he’s thankful that the two times he’s been shot at, the gunmen had bad aim. He said he’s never had to fire his weapon, which he’s also glad about. Law enforcement work led Atkins to see some horrible things, but his worst call came in 2004, when Sgt. Brad Crawford was T-boned in his patrol car and killed by a fleeing suspect in a pickup truck. “I was the last one to talk to him and one of the first people on scene,” he said. All at once, Atkins had to deal with multiple things: Crawford being extricated from his patrol car, a suspect still on the loose, emotional officers and an investigation. And then, an officer’s funeral. “I couldn’t sleep that night,” he said. “That was bad — seeing somebody you work with and respect killed.”

5. He’s active in his church

As a member of the Vancouver First Church of God, Atkins said that his religious beliefs have helped him become the person he is. It also has helped him stay positive throughout a career that has put him in some gruesome situations. “Faith has helped me be a better cop,” he said. Atkins became a board member for the church and regularly volunteers with a group of church members, offering to build wheelchair ramps and do other projects as the need arises.

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Columbian Breaking News Reporter