Bob Millard put in more than 33 years as a cop in Kitsap County. So much has changed since he started, even his job title doesn’t exist anymore.
Millard (pictured) became a corporal in 1986, a position that is buttressed between the line officer and the sergeant. Its purpose was to give sergeants a backup for when they were sick or on vacation.
As Kitsap County grew, the sheriff’s office needed more sergeants (there are now supposed to be two on during every shift). And when Kitsap County Sheriff Steve Boyer was elected for the first time in 1998, he eliminated the rank.
But Millard stayed on as corporal almost 11 years after the rank was eliminated. Only now the rank of “corporal” is nothing but a memory.
Scott Wilson, Kitsap County Sheriff’s spokesman, points out that law enforcement agencies can arrange a hierarchy any way they see fit. For instance, while most agencies have sergeants as their first line supervisor, the Bainbridge Island Police Department’s first supervisors are called lieutenants — traditionally the rank above a sergeant in other departments.
In any case, the last corporal will be missed.
“He was a deputy who believed in, and practiced everyday, putting other people first,” Sheriff Boyer told me Wednesday. “He was dedicated and always maintained a positive attitude.”
Look for a full story about Millard in the Kitsap Sun in the next few days.
