New Mercer Island police chief brings decades of experience, anti-bullying expertise

Read on below for a full Q&A with Mercer Island Police Chief Michelle Bennett.

With the city manager’s stamp of approval, Mercer Island’s interim police chief has become permanent.

Chief Michelle Bennett is a Pacific Northwest native, local college professor, and seasoned law enforcement officer.

City Manager Jessi Bonn stated in a news release that Bennett brings unparalleled experience and training with her, and that she’s already tackled tough problems since her interim appointment in July, like leading a department without a permanent facility.

Bonn added that Bennett has maintained high morale and levels of service.

“Her proven ability to lead the department effectively, coupled with the confidence she has earned from officers, staff, city leadership, and the community, make her exceptionally well-qualified to serve as Mercer Island’s permanent police chief,” Bonn said.

Mercer Island police chief’s early career

Bennett started her career as a teenage police cadet in Edmonds.

She graduated from Central Washington University in 1986 with a degree in law and justice, then started her career in policing in 1990 with the King County Sheriff’s Office. She worked her way to prestigious tenure, starting in patrol and serving as a training officer, school resource officer, detective, master police officer, administrative and operations Captain, then major – a high-ranking, supervisory position.

Bennett went on to get a master’s from CWU, graduated from the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, and the FBI National Academy.

She was also granted a doctorate in education from Seattle Pacific University, where she focused her dissertation on bullying. Bennett designed an anti-bullying curriculum for the Shoreline School District, among other private and public clients.

Bennett’s leadership continued from the King County Sheriff’s Department to leading several local police departments. She was the first female chief for the cities of Maple Valley and Sammamish, and served as chief for the Edmonds Police Department from 2021 to 2024.

She retired from that position. She told MyEdmondsNews that, as a single mom of four children, the 90-minute commute was untenable.

“I need to also focus on my life and the time I have with my kids, because they’re only young once,” Bennett told the media outlet. “It’s a hard choice because I love this department and I love policing and I love service, but it’s not a hard choice because, you know, I really love my family.”

Mercer Island’s previous chief, Ed Holmes, spent his entire 30-year law enforcement career serving the city, and spent 18 years as chief before retiring in June of 2024.

Mercer Island has a population of just over 24,000. The police department is made up of 32 commissioned officers and five support staff.

“I’m excited to work alongside an outstanding team of city professionals, dedicated police staff, and a supportive community. We have all the right people in place, and together we’ll continue aligning the department with today’s landscape through innovation and strong partnerships,” Bennett said in a news release.

Q&A with Mercer Island’s new police chief

What is your long-term vision for the department?

At this point, I’m working on our five year strategic plan to move us into next year and the years beyond. We’re, of course, in the city trying to get a new building since our City Hall and Police Department down.

I’m also trying to digitize our systems. And make available both our use-of-force, our pursuits, our complaints and commendations all online for citizens.

And then the Council just approved our in-car camera system. And then we need to work on now towards potentially getting body cameras. So, there’s a lot to do.

How will all of that impact services the department provides Mercer Island?

We don’t have a building. It’s difficult for that public-facing service. You know, people that want to walk in and report something or just want to talk with an officer. We don’t have a public facility space for that right now. Which is obviously a service we would like to provide to the community.

We’ll continue to provide quality and timely service.

It’s more of an updating of technology and systems internally, so we can be accountable and transparent outwardly-facing as well.

What public safety issues will your department be focused on?

Right now we’ve dealt a lot with e-bikes, which have been a problem for everyone.

We have had a lot of complaints about kids tearing through lawns, tearing across the sidewalks. Or, you know, damaging property.

And of course there’s the safety concern, right? If you’re riding this motorcycle that goes 30 miles an hour, you don’t have a helmet on and you’re not following the rules of the road there’s a lot of safety issues that can arise from that.

The very first step we took was education. So the legislation that was passed, in essence, identified what is actually a motorcycle as a motorcycle. And so a motorcycle then would have to be licensed and adhere to the rules of the road.

We also have the new Sound Transit station. The potential is that it could open at the end of April. So that will be a different kind of thing for Mercer Island Police to address. Having a transit center in town – are there any issues created from that?

And what can we best do if the World Cup is coming? If we now have the platform for transportation from the eastside over into Seattle. What’s the capacity of the station? What are the services available? Parking? All those things.

After six months working at Mercer Island, what’s your impression of the department?

We have such a great group of people, really caring and professional people that really enjoy service especially within the community.

We just have a really diverse group of folks with various backgrounds. We have somebody who was a biochemist. We have someone who worked in infectious disease. We have someone who was a school teacher. There’s just really a great depth and breadth of experience that came from outside the department. We have a former flight attendant. You know, customer service orientation.

It brings a certain level of maturity and professionalism and education.

Are you using your background in education and anti-bullying efforts?

I’m part of the “Youth Belongs” student well being committee founded by Superintendent Fred Rundle, as well as the safety committee.

I’ve let them know I am happy to provide any anti-bullying or anti-cyberbullying classes they may need.

Building morale

The building issue has obviously been very difficult for officers and stressful.

There was a long-term chief, Ed Holmes, who was there for many years. So, obviously change can be very difficult.

So one of the first things I was able to do is do a ride-along with all the officers, or meet one-on-one with officers and kind of hear where they’re at. What their concerns are and how we’re doing as a department.

Really working on sending out lots of communication so folks know what’s happening.

Coming in at different hours, you know, I’ll come to graveyard roll call. Or I’ll stay late. Or my commanders will come in early. You know, really trying to enhance the family atmosphere that’s already there.

Fully staffed and feels like family

We have been so super fortunate and we are currently fully staffed.

For the most part, people that come, stay. They want to be here and serve this community. That allows us to maintain high levels of service for the community and be present for the community.

A lot of community support. people constantly wanting to drop off treats or cookies or snacks at the department. We’ll find people wandering around – we’re currently in modular buildings you know “Here’s a stack of cookies for you guys. Where’s your entrance?” (laughs) We don’t have one right now, but it’s very kind.

I’ve been able to meet with a number of different members, and I’m just blown away with how community-oriented and focused and kind and supportive the community has been.

And the officers are the ones that bring that on. They’re kind and empathetic and really engaged.

It really does have to do with having a supportive community and having a supportive City Council and a supportive City Manager. All of those things help build a supportive department where people feel valued and appreciated.

And that’s we want to continue to work on and let officers know how valued the are and how important they are. They are the backbone of the department, of everything that gets done.

Transitioning from a large agency like KSCO, to a small agency like Mercer Island

In the Sheriff’s office you can transfer around. One day you could be in White Center, the next day you could be in North Bend with a completely different group of people.

It’s different in a small department because everyone is working together in a small group. I find a lot of familiarity, family support, supporting officers, supporting people if they have issues. You know, issues at home or anything that’s happening. Our officers are at the ready to support their fellow officer.

It’s so close-knit. You really get to know the people. You get to know about their kids.

It was recently Christmas and one of our staff decorated all the doors of our modular buildings, and brought in treats. It was just such a nice family feel.

Speaking of treats – what’s your favorite kind?

Chocolate chip. Come on. There is no other kind. The Met Market’s awesome.

Growing the next generation of law enforcement

I will probably continue to assist at Bellevue College because it’s so close. It is a good ground for people that want to go into law enforcement. Some of my students have been able to go on ride-alongs.

That’s kind of one of the joys of being able to teach, especially younger people that are interested in a law enforcement career – kind of set them on the path.

What is our future? What is the future of law enforcement? What can we bring to help people succeed in their careers or get into the career field?

Coming out of retirement

I was planning on retiring. I had been contacted by the City Manager whom I’d worked with before. They just needed some additional support for the department on strategic plans.

Sort of a nice transition out of law enforcement.

And then as way leads on to way, there ended up being a position available. And it’s just been so great being there. And obviously, the close commute is nice.

I think my kids are just like “yeah mom it’s okay, be at work.” Haha! But no my kids have been really supportive. But because it’s so close to home and it’s such a supportive staff. It kind of changed my mind for the moment, anyway. I’ve got a little bit of life in me. What can I do to help?