Normandy Park Hires Police Chief

NORMANDY PARK - This seemingly quiet city on the Sound has just hired its third police chief in two years - not counting two interim police chiefs who have served for 12 of the past 25 months.

But Al Teeples, who takes over the post June 17, says he's not apprehensive about his ability to keep the job.

"Politics have never been a concern of mine; it's something I really have no control over," says Teeples, 51, who is chief of public safety at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.

Teeples was hired over 41 other applicants by City Manager Jim Murphy. Murphy himself was hired as police chief last October, and promoted after two weeks on the job when the Normandy City Council fired City Manager Ehman Sheldon. Normandy Park has gone through five city managers since 1983, firing two of them. The politically volatile city also has had four mayors in three years.

Sheldon was fired after city employees last fall protested what they called his dictatorial management style. Since then, with Murphy at the helm, City Hall seems to have regained a measure of calm.

"The revolving door is locked," Murphy said yesterday.

Murphy, who was appointed permanent city manager in April after serving five months on an interim basis, said he's confident of Teeples' abilities.

Teeples, born in Cody, Wyo., grew up in Montana, and went to high school in Spokane, where he joined the police force in 1961. He became a motorcycle officer in 1963, a detective in 1967, a sergeant in 1969, and helped run the department's Narcotics Division in 1973. In 1974, not long after being promoted to lieutenant, Teeples left the force to go into private business.

Over the next few years he operated a restaurant with his wife and sold insurance. Then in 1980, he says, "I decided I was out of my element."

Teeples returned to law enforcement, taking a job as chief of public safety at Central Washington University. Last year, he graduated from the FBI National Academy.

Teeples will be the second new police chief to arrive in South King County in recent days. Ed Crawford, 48, a former deputy chief of the Washington State Patrol, took over as Kent police chief this week.

Crawford created a stir when he refused to submit to a lie-detector test and psychological examination required of all new police hires in that city. Kent Mayor Dan Kelleher waived the requirement after Crawford said he felt the tests were not appropriate for someone with 25 years of law-enforcement experience.

Kent may be the only Police Department in the state that has a lie-detector requirement for prospective chiefs, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.

Murphy said he did not ask Teeples to undergo a lie-detector test, though Murphy took such a test when he was hired last year.

"I thought about it," Murphy said, "but I'm very much aware of Al and his history, and felt confident with the background investigation we did that it wasn't necessary."

Teeples' official title will be director of public safety. He'll be in charge of the 11-officer Police Department. He also will deal with King County Fire Districts 2 and 26, with which Normandy Park contracts for fire protection.