Over a year after he was appointed as Yelm’s police chief, Rob Carlson reflected on his first year with the new title. He described his first 365 days on the job as being much easier than anticipated because of the people working with him at the Yelm Police Department.
Carlson was initially appointed as police chief on July 28, 2022.
“That staff, that supporting cast for me has been awesome,” Carlson said. “They’ve made this transition for me in the last year much easier. Then it kinda hit that it was real. For me, just having this supporting cast around me has been the biggest thing for me. Not only with Tillman Atkins as assistant chief, promoting Anthony Sparkuhl to the sergeant position and starting to work on our training management program a little bit.”
He also applauded the work of patrol sergeants Kevin Taylor and Chris Davis, who also helped make his first year as chief successful.
In January of 2022, months before Carlson officially took over, he said he was already taking on the police chief role while Todd Stancil was Yelm’s interim city administrator. He said a lot of the nerves and concerns he had about taking the position were already worked out by the time he was appointed in July.
“Learning through that has been big,” he said. “The other agencies, the other chiefs, other people that’ve experienced it are very eager to come here to help us. It’s a learning process. It’s a humble piece, too. I don’t know everything, and I’m only as good as the people around me. We’re only as good as we are together. If I keep that mentality up, ask questions, pick people’s minds, and we collaborate together, that’s a benefit for the city and the department. As long as you are ethically and morally doing the right things, you can’t go wrong.”
Carlson is also proud to serve Yelm, which he described as a good community that supports the department.
“We had the Pride Fest and Drag Show event in Yelm. We planned for that and prepped for it. Our people did a great job. Public safety was our main focus on that, and I think we were successful,” Carlson said. “Two weeks later, we had the Prairie Days Parade. In the multiple parades I’ve been a part of in this town for Prairie Days, that was probably one of the best parades for our people. You could see the support, see the encouragement and people were happy that we were present and there. You could feel it. Driving the sheriff around and hearing people talk to us and encourage us, we just have a great community.”
Carlson viewed the department’s training program as a success and applauded Sparkuhl for being a pivotal piece in starting the program.
“We wanted to get all that started and establish a reputable training program that we could track and follow to ensure all of our folks are getting the appropriate training by both state standards and department standards,” Carlson said. “It’s to make our officers more apt to go out and handle the business they’re experiencing. We are a less-experienced department with the multiple retirements we’ve had.”
Carlson said, though recruitment and retention will always be a focus of the department, the process went well during his first year.
He said the department is always looking to add more officers to the Yelm Police Department due to the growth of the community.
“The last group of people we had that tested for us as an entry level officer was probably the best group we’ve had,” Carlson said. “Being the size of department we are, I have the ability to pick the next family member to join in. I tell them that this place is a family. They work hard together, they train together, they break bread together and they enjoy coming to work to be with each other.”
In addition to retention and recruitment, Carlson wants to “fine tune” the department’s training program, which he believes will be achieved this year.
“I think the big thing for me is providing the appropriate tools for our people,” he said. “The law enforcement movement is a lot more in regards to less lethal, the ability to fix a problem without violence. There’s tools out there so we can do that. Whether it’s via grants, budgeting, I want to be able to provide them with the appropriate tools to use that less-lethal option. We want to have the ability to take a situation and be successful in taking care of it, and ending it without anyone getting hurt.”
Carlson also said the department is starting to look at the bigger picture, including five-year growth goals. He aims to hire an additional school resource officer, but wants to find the right person for the job.
“Just know that I’m always going to be trying to get better. Twenty-eight years ago in the police academy, a police instructor told me ‘the day you stop learning is the day you need to retire,’ which has stuck with me,” Carlson said. “I’m in a different position now, as most of my career I was out on the road doing patrol, and now in the last three to four years I’ve been doing administrative-type duties. That’s what keeps me going: is constantly learning new things and trying to navigate our department successfully through the new problems we’re dealing with as we grow. I’m always going to try to do a good job. There is pride in the product with me.”
