Elma Police Chief Susan Shultz retires after 11 years

Published 1:30 am Friday, February 20, 2026

At the Elma City Council meeting held on Feb. 17, Elma Police Chief Susan Shultz didn’t give her presentation from her customary seat facing the six-member council at the table alongside City Attorney Lisa Wood. Instead, she approached the podium and turned it around to face the audience that nearly filled all the seats in the council chamber.

“Mayor, council members, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk to Elma,” said Shultz. “So with all due respect, I’m going to turn my back on you and because I want to honor these people.”

For the next 14 minutes, Shultz read from a prepared statement on what it meant to serve for the past 11 years as the chief of police in Elma.

“My career has never been truly about a badge, a title, or a uniform,” she said. “It has always been about one thing, the people. Being the Elma Police Chief gave me the opportunity to provide service to this community and the people who make Elma the special place that it is.”

Shultz thanked her family, husband Clayton, and three daughters Christina, Megan and Amanda: “Your love, patience, understanding, and support carried me through the hardest days and grounded me through the most demanding time. … And I could have not done this without you.”

She also called out her mother Jean, who, at 104 years old, is one of her greatest supporters and biggest fans.

In 2015, former Elma Mayor David Osgood hired Shultz as a temporary chief but then asked her to serve permanently, and under Mayor Jim Sorenson, she served eight years.

“Both of you had the confidence that allowed me to grow as a leader and to serve this community with integrity,” Shultz said. “You saw the direction I was taking the department in and you acknowledged my abilities, allowing me to lead a group of wonderful people without second-guessing my decisions. Thank you both for partnering with your police department and providing the citizens and visitors of Elma an outstanding law enforcement team.”

Shultz thanked each member of the Elma Police Department in turn, many of whom were in attendance: “Looking at each of you, I don’t just see officers or staff. I see personalities, strengths and stories that have shaped my career and my heart.”

In her remarks, the chief didn’t overlook the significance of her being Grays Harbor’s first female chief of police.

“Over the years, I’ve had more than a few moments when someone would say, ‘Hey, I’d like to speak to the chief.’ And when I’d step forward, they’d look a little surprised because the chief was a woman. And some folks needed a second to process it and some needed a third,” she said.

And in closing, Schultz said to the people of Elma, “When I first arrived, I came with a commitment to lead with integrity, professionalism and dedication. What I received in return was far greater than what I could have imagined. Your support, your partnership, and your belief in the work we were doing together. This community has truly become my second home.”

Following a standing ovation, Mayor Josh Collette invited the audience to speak.

“She proved herself. She’s done an excellent job,” said Osgood. “She is dedicated. … Elma’s a very lucky community to have you and we’re proud of you and wish you all the best of luck.”

Renee Volz, vice president of the Elma Chamber of Commerce, praised Shultz for her involvement with the youth. “What do you do for those kids? You don’t just go in and tell them all the bad things,” she said. “You can look for the positives. [You] made sure those kids knew that this police department cared for them.”

All the council members also shared their appreciation for Shultz’s work in the community.

“Sue, being your boss for eight years was an amazing experience,” said Sorenson.

Council member Mike Cooper shared a conversation he had with the chief regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel showing up in the community and how Shultz would respond.

“First, you talked about the respect you had for the 20% of our community that’s Latino and how closely you work with that part of our community,” he said. “And you talked about that we have other things to do besides run around and worry about whether people are legal or illegal immigrants, that if we get approached with a warrant and due process, we’ll get involved. But we have other things to do to take care of the citizens of Elma than to worry about a person’s immigration status. I really appreciated your passion when you talk so frankly about that and the relationship between that issue and the state law.”

Earlier that day, The Daily World sat down with Shultz in the new Community Safety and Service Building to discuss her career in law enforcement and what she set out to accomplish as police chief at the city of Elma. What follows is the conversation abridged for length and clarity.

The Daily World: You do a lot of outreach to the youth, such as visiting the schools, is that something you brought with you to Elma?

Schultz: It was something that I saw was an avenue for me to connect with the young people. I’ve always gone to them in the good place rather than starting off my connections with them in the bad place.

TDW: Is this outreach something you gravitated toward naturally throughout your career?

Shultz: My whole career has been about serving people. I started my career as a reserve for Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department, and then I was hired by the Sheriff’s Department Corrections Division. That’s where I learned how to communicate with people when they’re at their worst. I found that I had a gift of listening and empathizing with people and letting them know that where they were may not be the end of their rope.

TDW: How did you transition into a leadership position?

Shultz: While I did my time at the correctional side, I saw that there were female officers, and in 1986 it was odd to see a female officer, at least on the line. I decided that I was going to try to become a police officer. I started testing and was quickly picked up by the Bremerton Police Department.

I worked patrol and did some bicycle officer work. Then I was assigned to the General Detectives Division, where I very quickly became immersed in the child sexual assault and domestic violence role as an investigator. Rape and child abuse are some of the most heinous crimes that anyone could do to another person, and because of that, I wanted to help people who have been victimized and allow them to empower themselves to regain who they are.

TDW: Over the years, has it been a source of frustration knowing of the backlog of untested rape kits or officers discounting victim’s statements?

Shultz: It would just empower me to gain every piece of evidence and information I could so that when I turned my report over to the prosecutor’s office, they could look at it and say, ‘This is a slam dunk.’

TDW: How long were you with that unit?

Shultz: I did sex crimes and child abuse for seven years. They say that investigators should not do more than three or four years, but I talked my way through it. I’m a person of faith, and I truly believe that has helped me through my career and helped keep me sane.

Bainbridge Island Police was looking for a lieutenant, and I took that position. Then an opportunity came to become deputy chief; at that time it was called commander. I applied for that position and was promoted. I served as acting chief in Bainbridge for a short period of time before a new city manager came in and wanted to restructure the whole police department.

From there, I decided to work with the Yakama and Colville tribes on cold case and missing Indigenous people. Matt Haney, who was part of the King County investigating team for the Green River Killer, was hired by the Colville Tribe to run their police team through the Marshal’s office, and he was overseeing an investigating team on the Yakama side. Haney asked me to come work with him.

We lived on the reservation for two years and I worked getting to know the Yakamas, their ways, their culture. We had 35 plus cases of missing or deceased murdered women and men. Because I was a white woman and carried a gun, there is a lot of mistrust, and I can see why.

There were three different entities — Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and local tribal police — looking at a case and they didn’t work together. We collected everybody’s reports and went through quite a few cases. I couldn’t tell you how many we solved. Most of them we couldn’t solve or hold anybody accountable because to hold anybody accountable for a felony crime, the FBI has to take it.

During my last year there, I wanted to take on a department of my own, because I wanted to give back to a community.

TDW: How did you come to Elma?

Shultz: Mike Painter, with the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs, was working with Mayor Osgood, who was looking for an interim police chief. The city had lost their police chief and there was a lot of tension in the air. They were worried the police department would be contracted out through the sheriff’s department. The community said absolutely not.

Larry Dickerson, who was the interim police chief, called to ask if I was still looking for a place to land. I said, ‘Well, as a matter of fact, I am.’

I met with Mayor Osgood, Larry, Diana Easton, and Dan Glenn, and they asked me to serve as an interim chief. After a month, Mayor Osgood said, ‘You know, I really want you to stay forever.’ In fact, 11 years ago today, I was sworn in.

TDW: When you accepted the position of chief, did you have a set of goals to accomplish?

Shultz: Upon arriving, I introduced myself to the community by walking downtown and connecting with businesses. More times than not, I heard, ‘We have a police department?’ or ‘I didn’t know there was a police chief in town.’ So I’ve made really sure that I stick my hand out there and extend an olive branch to say, ‘This is who we are and this is why I’m here. It’s all about the people.’

Prior to my arrival, the city commissioned a Loaned Executive Management Assistance Program study. Using that study, I identified the areas we needed improvement and I met with the officers and staff, and we mapped that all out.

TDW: Can you give examples of the specific areas of improvement that have been addressed?

Schultz: Holding community events, like our Pancakes, Pigs, and Santa, that was one of the things that I brought here. It’s because of my love for pigs, embracing what people want to use as a negative as something fun.

TDW: Was finding a new building for the police department called out in the report?

Shultz: No. When I first got here and walked into the [old] building, I thought it was kind of scary but Mayor Osgood said they were remodeling. I helped him redesign what the building looks like now. But that had been a temporary building for 35 plus years now, and I thought that’s a problem.

One day, I saw a sale sign up on this building and was intrigued. I did a walkthrough and thought it could work. I talked to Mayor Sorenson and asked him to walk through too, and he could see my vision. He was very supportive and it just went from there.

TDW: Would you consider this building to be your legacy and continuing the mission of the department into the future?

Shultz: This was my swan song; I wanted to leave this police department in a better place than what I found it. And if that means that this building is my legacy, then so be it.

I’m very proud of this facility; it is probably one of the most prettiest police facilities in Grays Harbor, if not beyond.

TDW: What are your plans for retirement?

Shultz: I have a whole bunch of stuff in a bucket and I’m going to start picking out one thing at a time and just do it. I’ve got a daughter and her wife in Australia with my granddaughter who I haven’t laid hands on yet, so there will be plans to go visit with them.

I have a daughter, who’s a captain in the military and lives in North Carolina, and I don’t see her enough. And then I have a grandson who lives in the Silverdale area that I will be able to spend some more time with.

I’ve already signed up to do some volunteer service. There’s a food meal program that I want to start cooking for on a regular basis. I want to find something that centers around serving others and blessing them with good things and giving my mind and my heart a break from being with people during their worst moments.