Bloglander

Interim Spokane police Chief Rick Dobrow announced his plans to retire from the police department today.

Dobrow’s announcement comes less than five months after Mayor David Condon tapped him to fill in for the former chief, Frank Straub, who was ousted in September and who has since sued the city.

Condon announced today that he has agreed to a four-month contract with former U.S. Attorney Jim McDevitt as law enforcement director to oversee the police department while the search for police chief continues. 

Dobrow told the Inlander in September that he would take the permanent position if offered to him, despite plans to retire, which had been in the works since last August. 

"I've been doing this job for a long time," the nearly 34-year veteran says today. "I'm tired." Dobrow's last day will be March 1.

He added that the Police Leadership Advisory Committee's recommendations for Spokane's new police chief call for a four-year degree, which he does not have. 

McDevitt was a member of the PLAC and helped come up with the qualifications. He also served as a U.S. District Attorney for Eastern Washington, is one of three members of the Spokane Regional Criminal Justice Commission and helped pen the "Blueprint for Reform." 

McDevitt was also the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted former SPD officer Karl Thompson in the death of Otto Zehm.