Major Jerrell Wills and King County Sheriff Sue Rahr

Jerrell Wills, 20-year veteran of the King County Sheriff’s Office, was promoted to the rank of major on March 13 and appointed Precinct Commander for the Sheriff’s Office North Precinct – Precinct 2 – headquartered in Kenmore.

His 12-year-old daughter participated in the recent promotion ceremony, just as his 13-year-old son did when Wills was promoted to captain in 2006.

“So now my youngest son (age 9) thinks in a year, it will be his turn to be in a promotion ceremony,” he said with a chuckle. “I told him it doesn’t work that way. People don’t get promoted every year.”

Precinct 2 is a large precinct geographically; it is approximately 747 square miles. The new commanding officer is responsible for law enforcement in all unincorporated areas and six contract cities north of Interstate 90 to Snohomish County, west to the city of Lake Forest Park and the east to Snoqualmie Pass.

Wills said, “There are about 120 people assigned to the precinct: sergeants, captains, deputies. I am transitioning the position and will begin full time on April 1.”

In addition to connecting with precinct personnel, supporting contract city police chiefs, acting as chief to the Skykomish Police Department, working with city managers to see how he might support them, Wills has as an overarching goal partnering with citizen advisory councils, area councils, neighborhood councils and homeowners associations.

“I want to get involved with community groups,” he said. “I want to be really accessible as a precinct commander, not just be a figurehead. I don’t want people to feel their messages are being filtered down to me.”

His direct line is (206) 205-7654; his e-mail address is jerrell.wills@kingcounty.gov.

After his promotion to captain in December 2006, Wills was named Chief of the Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Unit for King County International Airport (Boeing Field). At the time, Wills called his new position “the ultimate job” because it combined his love of the fire industry with his years of law enforcement experience. He was a volunteer firefighter for the Duvall Fire Department just under nine years. While at Boeing Field, Wills spearheaded efforts to purchase a $1 million aircraft rescue fire truck, which he calls “essentially the most technically advanced fire truck on the West Coast.” He also replaced a lot of equipment that hadn’t been updated in a long time and enhanced the training of responders to Firefighter 1 standards.

“It’s definitely safer and people are better prepared,” said Wills. “When I leave, there’s actually going to be a waiting list of applicants who want to enter the unit. That never occurred. It’s a major step in the right direction.”

Prior to his job at Boeing Field, he was the administrative sergeant for the Sammamish Police Department. He also worked many other positions in the Sheriff’s Office. He was a member of the motorcycle unit, a public information officer, and a patrol officer, for example.

In his spare time, Wills is a football coach for the Cedarcrest High School Red Wolves in Duvall and a strength and conditioning coach for student athletes at Cedarcrest and eighth-graders going to Cedarcrest. He also coaches his daughter’s indoor soccer team and his youngest son’s outdoor soccer team.

“I’m extremely busy,” he said.

His full schedule caused him to resign as a Duvall volunteer firefighter, but he hopes to continue – albeit in a very limited way – wrestling steer on the rodeo circuit, another one of his passions. But the rodeo circuit takes a backseat to spending time with his kids, he said. And, there’s plenty of work to do around his “homestead,” he admits.

Wills is excited about his new job and looks forward to serving Precinct 2 with energy and enthusiasm. He replaces Major Rebecca Norton who retired.