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Sultan PD: A Small Department with Big Problems

Christopher L. Vaughn
June 19, 2007
~~ On June 18th, Fred Walser, the City of Sultan’s Police Chief was placed on paid leave after two internal investigations of his department.

According to a report in the Seattle Times, Sultan Mayor Ben Tolson declined to comment on why the Chief of Police had been put on leave, but did mention the two internal investigations by the Washington State Patrol and the City of Everett Police.

The internal investigations are in response to allegations that Sultan Police employee Carol Pepperille had poisoned her neighbor’s two—six month old puppies. The neighbor, Gayle M. Harvie, also claimed that Pepperille had illegally used the city’s police computers to file a fictitious report against the Harvie family with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department.

The paid leave comes shortly after Chief Fred Walser announced his resignation and that he’d be stepping down from his position on August 15th in reaction to the city council voting to disband the police department and contract with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department for police services.

Chief Fred Walser was placed on leave before in 2002 by Sultan’s former Mayor Rowe, who had done so without an explanation. Walser later returned to his position and faced hardships among some in the city council, including one who claimed the police chief had committed a crime and caused Walser to file a slander claim.


The Sultan Police Department has endured several years of financial difficulties as well as a significant amount of controversy. In 2001, the department’s police officers gave up cost of living increases and holiday pay for 16 months in order to save jobs. In 2003, Fred Walser was placed on leave again after a harassment claim was file against him, and was later exonerated by the State Attorney General. Other controversies came about over a conflict of interest between Fred Walser’s wife, Donnetta Walser, who is the Mayor of the neighboring city of Monroe.

Chief Fred Walser has worked for the Sultan Police Department for 11 years.











































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Christopher L. Vaughn

Christopher L. Vaughn, known as C. L. Vaughn in his writing, is a lifetime resident of the Puget Sound and lives with his wife and son in the Sky Valley, an area nestled in the foot hills of the Cascade Mountains. At the age of 17 Chris earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America and then joined the US Army Reserves as a Combat Engineer. He has made a career out of public service through the Security Industry and is employed by the Monroe School District.

Chris currently has several manuscripts underway in the action adventure genre, and several children's book manuscripts finished, as well as several self published short stories. He is a contributor to the online magazine Americanchronicle.com and 21 other affiliated online magazines,a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.