SNOHOMISH — The city's getting a new police chief starting Sept. 1.
Lt. Nathan Alanis is moving over from being Sultan's police chief. The announcement went public Aug. 15.
A promotion within the sheriff's office is behind the turn of events. Snohomish's chief Mike Martin got promoted from lieutenant to captain within the sheriff's office a few weeks into the job and is being assigned bigger duties.
Incoming chief Alanis knows the station at 230 Maple Ave. well: a few years ago as a sergeant, he was the second-in-command under police chiefs Keith Rogers and Rob Palmer, and was Snohomish's acting chief when his boss went on vacation.
Alanis, 40, is a Snohomish local, too.
Alanis said in a press release that he is excited about the role and "will work hard to prioritize public trust and deliver professional law enforcement services to our residents, visitors and business owners in Snohomish.”
Alanis has 16 years at the sheriff's office. He's been a school resource officer, patrol deputy and also led the sheriff's office's efforts for community outreach and neighborhood watch. He also had a stint running the police department in Brier to fill in during a transition in that city.
Martin had taken the Snohomish chief's post on July 1.
Now as a captain, he'll be the patrol operations commander of the north and east precincts, including overseeing cities with contracts for police services such as Snohomish.
Snohomish's contract only allows for a lieutenant to be the police chief.
Martin said by phone that the promotion in rank was a good surprise.
He'd tested for captain about two years ago but didn't know if he would get one of the office's four captain slots, and not this quickly after taking over as police chief. Captain is one step down from bureau chief and two steps below undersheriff.
Snohomish, Sultan, Stanwood and a few other small cities contract with the sheriff’s office to run local police services.
In 2011, Snohomish disbanded its independent police department and made the switch to contracting to save money.
