As police administrators gathered before a Christmas tree for a photo with Sheriff Garry Lucas, he stood in front of them, pretending to lead an orchestra.
“Joy to the world,” he said with a familiar, mischievous grin.
Leading an orchestra is essentially what he’s done for the last 24 years as Clark County sheriff. His lengthy career and upcoming retirement were celebrated at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver on Tuesday evening, along with the retirements of Undersheriff Joe Dunegan and Chief Criminal Deputy Mike Evans. Together, they have 121 years of law enforcement experience, and their exodus is in line with the wave of Baby Boomers retiring from law enforcement agencies around the country. Their last day at work is Dec. 31, as the agency ushers in new leadership for the new year. After a short career in sales where he discovered he “couldn’t sell wool blankets to Eskimos,” Lucas read about an opening at the sheriff’s office in The Columbian and applied. He started patrol on Jan. 1, 1968.
“I haven’t had a boring day since,” he said. In those early days, he would sometimes be the only person on the road, patrolling the county. A lot has changed since then, but the core mission of making this a better, safer place remains the same, he said.
County Administrator Mark McCauley spoke at the retirement party on behalf of the Clark County Commissioners, who were at a C-Tran meeting.
“We have an icon we’re honoring here,” McCauley said. “The man fills the room. He sucks the air out of the room.”
Lucas is known as a man who doesn’t say much, but when he does it’s something substantial that draws people to listen to him.
“He’s someone who’s made a profound difference in the safety of Clark County,” said Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor, a former Clark County undersheriff. “I know this is a deeply good man and an exceptional sheriff.”
Speakers at the retirement party said he set the bar high for the incoming administration. Newly elected Sheriff Chuck Atkins couldn’t attend because he was at a training in Chelan.
Lucas said he hopes the sheriff’s office continues to build community relationships without the strife seen in other parts of the nation. During his tenure, he found that when police give people the opportunity to retain their dignity, they will almost always take it.
He acknowledged that the sheriff’s office has had its own share of internal and external issues. But the people around him have helped him work through those problems and keep him on track. The success of a leader depends on those who help them, Lucas said. That includes the agency’s ties to local, state and federal agencies. “Whether we like it or not, we’re in this together,” he said. “Regardless of how big you are, you need others.”
Community service
Just shy of his 23rd birthday, Dunegan was hired to work at the Clark County Jail on July 1, 1977, for what he thought would be a fun, exciting job. A few days later, he celebrated his first wedding anniversary with his wife, who was six months pregnant.
“The work was intimidating at first,” he said. “It wasn’t very long into it that I realized it was a community service.”
That’s the reason he kept coming back to work. Dunegan never worked patrol and spent the bulk of his career in the jail. So, he’s most proud of his work in developing the Jail Work Center, a minimum security facility that has offenders repay the community through service work. There was a philosophical shift that came with that change; the idea of offenders contributing to their community and being reintegrated into it. It’s a philosophy that continues evolving.
He was promoted to jail chief when Lucas was elected in 1991, and later appointed as undersheriff.
“Joe and I have an understanding,” Lucas said. They could go into each other’s offices and yell and vent when things just weren’t going so well. Lucas presented new ideas and info to him, knowing Dunegan would hear him out.
“The sheriff’s office is a family. We come together in celebration. We come together in times of tragedy,” Dunegan said. “Even though the sheriff’s office is family, it’s still not a substitute for a real family.”
He gave particular thanks to his 92-year-old mother, who sat at his family’s table during the event.
“And with that, I’m out of here,” he said with a laugh.
Working to the fullest
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Evans said of his career. “You don’t pick this profession, it picks you … From day one I felt I had found my calling.”
After arriving home from a grueling tour as part of a jazz band at age 22, Evans followed his instinct to pursue a more fulfilling career in law enforcement.
He started working at the sheriff’s office on June 16, 1978, and has been there ever since.
He choked up as he thanked his family for supporting him over the decades. He enjoyed going home from work knowing he had, in some way, made things better in the community.
“Whatever he does, he does it to his fullest,” said Cmdr. Rusty Warren of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
While visiting Evans’ second home on the coast in Tillamook, Ore., Warren discovered just how fanatic Evans’ love of fishing was. He counted about 100 fishing poles and found tackles for nearly every type of fish.
In his retirement, Evans plans to spend more time fishing and boating in Oregon. He said he’ll keep up with news of the office after he retires.
“There’s going to be a period of change,” Evans said. Police work, he added, happens regardless of who’s at the top.
