By Don Nelson
Winthrop Marshal Hal Henning has been let go from his position as the town’s only full-time law enforcement officer.
Henning was fired during a meeting Wednesday morning (Feb. 22) with Winthrop Mayor Anne Acheson. The decision was effective immediately.
Henning and Acheson have had some disagreements about issues related to how the marshal’s office operates in recent months. More information will be provided in next week’s edition of the Methow Valley News.
Henning was hired in June 2016. He has been the town’s only officer as it sought to hire a full-time deputy, a position provided for in the town budget.
Henning came to Winthrop from Seldovia, Alaska, on the Kenai Peninsula, where he had been the police chief.
During his tenure in Winthrop, Henning persuaded the Town Council to increase the basic salaries for Winthrop police officers to attract more applicants, and oversaw moving the marshal’s office to the former Riverside Printing building on a lease basis after the department’s office in the basement of Town Hall flooded for a second time.
In September 2016, Henning and Acheson had a pointed discussion about enforcing the town’s ban on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) after Okanogan County Commissioner Jim DeTro and some friends rode into town for lunch at a Winthrop restaurant. Henning said he should be given the latitude and discretion to do his job as he saw fit. Acheson directed the marshal to strictly enforce the ATV ban.
Before Henning took the position, Winthrop hadn’t had its own police officers since Acting Marshal Ken Bajema resigned in December 2015. Police officers from other local agencies covered the town on a temporary basis.
Before Bajema resigned, former Marshal Rikki Schwab had resigned in July 2015 after a little more than a year in the job. Two other officers had left the force in the previous six months, and when Schwab left Bajema became the interim marshal. The marshal’s office has had three full-time officers in the past, but the town council agreed earlier to reduce the full-time force to two at Bajema’s suggestion before he resigned.
