SPOKANE, Wash. – With Father’s Day approaching this Sunday, we had the honor of speaking with two Spokane Police Department (SPD) officers whose dedication and compassion reach far beyond their badges.
Allow me to introduce you to Officer Richie Plunkett. He’s worked in SPD for six years, most of that time in the Behavioral Health Unit (BHU).
Plunkett has a master’s degree in mental health counseling, and he worked as a mental health counselor before joining SPD.
Then, in 2020, Plunkett was named Washington Police Officer of the Year for his work in the community.
Plunkett loves helping people. Every day he works downtown building rapport with the community, talking them through their most difficult moments.
He is also well-known in the community for working with his wife to pack bags of hygiene products to give to some of the people he serves who are homeless.
But caring for others is not something he just does at work.
Plunkett and his wife adopted their son Owen from foster care. Of all the difficult things Officer Plunkett has had to see in his life, nothing bothered him more than watching Owen deal with withdrawals at an extremely young age when they picked him up from the hospital because he was born with drugs in his system.
Everyday Officer Plunkett works to take care of Owen before work. He makes sure Owen is up and ready to go and takes him to school. Then he goes to work in the community.
“I want my family, which is my most important thing, to be around forever,” said Plunkett. “Cause this is just a job. If I retired today, they’re gonna replace me. And while I like what I do, my family’s my most important thing for me…”
This Father’s Day, Officer Plunkett will be at the river with his family, disconnected from technology, probably reading a book on the water.
Officer Plunkett, happy Father’s Day.
There are several other heroes within SPD, but not everyone can say they have spent hundreds of hours helping people through mental health crises.
One SPD officer spent 25 years in downtown Spokane talking to people who were at their lowest point and helping them understand how incredibly valuable they are.
This is Officer Ryan Snider. For 25 years he was a hostage negotiator. Now he still works with SPD in forensics/evidence.
Thankfully, during his time as a negotiator, he says there were not too many true hostage situations. It was more about him going to help people who were feeling suicidal.
Regardless of how long it took, he did not give up on people. He once spent nearly 24 hours straight trying to talk someone out of a suicidal situation, but his hardest days were when he would work with any kids who were the same age as his own but were dealing with crisis.
All he wants as a father is to see his kids be happy and successful.
“That’s kind of the best gift that I can get for Father’s Day,” said Snider. “Just knowing that they are successful and knowing that my wife and I had a huge role in that. Making them good people.”
The good news for Officer Snider this Sunday is that his kids have successfully booked him a tee time, so at least he’ll have the day with his family.
Officer Snider, happy Father’s Day.
