Deputy chief retires from Sequim Police Department
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 3, 2026
A temporary assignment became three more years of service for John Southard.
Sequim’s Deputy Police Chief officially retired for a second time from the department on May 29.
Police Chief Mike Hill surprised Southard with a Distinguished Service Award on May 26 during the Sequim City Council meeting.
Hill said he hid the award under the podium earlier in the day to surprise Southard, and that he appreciated working side by side with him.
City Manager Matt Huish and city councilors shared kind words with Huish saying Southard came back at a critical time for the department and that he’s helped improve it.
Mayor Rachel Anderson said she’s grateful to get to know Southard.
“You bring that human element to not only the police department but the city,” she said.
Southard was hired as a Sequim police officer in June 2007 and later promoted to patrol sergeant in January 2017. He retired from service the first time in August 2021 and returned on March 1, 2023 as patrol sergeant.
According to the Distinguished Service Award, the Sequim Police Department experienced growth requiring administrative support while Hill, then deputy police chief, attended the FBI Academy.
Then Police Chief Sheri Crain contacted Southard and asked him to return in March 2023 in a temporary administrative sergeant capacity.
Southard was then hired and later started as deputy chief on May 1, 2024.
Hill said Southard returning was a “testament to his work ethic.”
Southard said then about applying as deputy chief that “it boils down to helping people.”
According to the award, some of his accomplishments as deputy chief included helping the department be re-accredited in 2024, helping to promote and train three patrol sergeants, and establishing procedures for future deputy chiefs.
Southard has lived in Sequim since 1992 with his family. He worked almost eight years for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Sequim as a research officer and dive officer, and he volunteered for Sequim Police Department and Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue.
He retired in 2018 as a Sergeant First Class in the Army National Guard Reserves after 21 years of service. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011-2012 as a combat advisor.
Southard served as a field training officer, a member of the Training Cadre, and is SWAT trained.
Pending hire
Hill wrote in an email reply that the Sequim Police Department worked with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) for executive recruitment and selection of a new deputy police chief.
Sequim received several applicants locally and nationally, and Sequim’s Civil Service Commission held interviews and tested five applicants on May 4. Eligible candidates went through a second interview on May 20, Hill said, with community stakeholders facilitated by WASPC to assist in identifying and selection of the new Deputy Chief.
He said they expect the decision of who is selected as Sequim’s next deputy police chief to be made soon.
