Kennewick police chief named Tri-Citian of the Year

Published Sunday, April 5th, 2009, Tri-City Herald

By Joe Chapman, Herald staff writer

PASCO Kennewick Police Chief Ken Hohenberg is the 2009 Tri-Citian of the Year.

Ken Hohenberg has been keeping Tri-City streets safe since he was a crossing guard as a boy, and he has hardly stopped serving since.

For that life of service to his community, the Kennewick police chief was named 2009 Tri-Citian of the Year at a banquet Saturday at the Pasco Red Lion.

"Nobody gets anything done by themselves," Hohenberg said, giving a nod to the evening's theme of community service. "It's all about relationships, and it's all about a desire to make things better in this community."

Local Kiwanis, Soroptimist, Lions and Rotary clubs put on the event. An independent committee selects the recipient, someone who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and contributed positively to the community through public or volunteer service.

"I've also been blessed that I've had many people that have allowed me to serve and to serve with them, and they've created opportunities for me," Hohenberg said.

Many have opened doors for him, including Bud Knore, who invited him to sit on the United Way board, he said.

Expressing his dedication to the Tri-Cities, he said, "We live in a great community, and we have a lot of work to do. These are tough times."

Hohenberg has lived in the Tri-Cities all his life, having made up his mind as a kid that this is where he would live as an adult. It also was at a young age that he set his sights on becoming a police officer.

He reached that goal 31 years ago, when he started out as a patrol officer in the Kennewick Police Department. He rose the ranks, becoming chief in 2003.

Knore, one of Hohenberg's nominators for the award, said the chief has been serving others since childhood. He once earned "Patrol Boy of the Year" honors for his crossing guard service.

"When most are too busy, Ken is always available," Knore wrote in his nomination letter. "When most are too tired, Ken is ready and eager to get started. When most think they have done their share, Ken is looking for more opportunities."

Hohenberg encourages his staff to be community oriented, said Capt. Craig Littrell and Linda Spier, assistant to the chief, in their nomination letter. In 2008, his staff helped raise more than $40,000 for Special Olympics.

He set the example, Littrell and Spier wrote, plunging into the near-freezing waters of the Columbia River in mid-winter for the Polar Bear Plunge and waiting tables at Red Robin and Red Lobster during the police department's "Tip a Cop" campaign -- both events to benefit Special Olympics.

His volunteer efforts are extensive, reaching organizations such as the Reading Foundation, Columbia Basin Dive Rescue, United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties, Camp Fire USA, Boys & Girls Club of Benton and Franklin Counties, March of Dimes, Tri-Cities Cancer Center and others.

"My passion for a lot of things that I'm involved in revolve around my mother," Hohenberg told the banquet's audience. His mom, one of several family members he introduced, survived melanoma when he was a teenager.

As police chief, Hohenberg ushered in a state-of-the-art Kennewick police station in 2008, that also houses the Federal Bureau of Investigation Violent Crimes Task Force, Child Protective Services and domestic violence advocates.

He committed a full-time police officer to target sex offenders, and he worked with the city attorney and county prosecutor offices to implement a new law that allows police to serve trespass notices in multiple jurisdictions to keep offenders away from Kennewick libraries, parks and schools.

In 2007, he started the Kennewick Police Department's participation in the National Missing Children's Day "Take 25" initiative at Columbia Park, encouraging parents to fingerprint their children and meet officers.

He also worked with the Kennewick School District to develop the Student Protection Team and developed the Juvenile Action Team to help at-risk youths.

Hohenberg has been honored before, including as the Kennewick Man of the Year in 2005, Benton-Franklin United Way's 2003 Volunteer of the Year and as one of Central Washington University's Law and Justice Outstanding Alumni in 2007-08.

He's a past president and current member of Columbia Center Rotary.

He and his wife Trish celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary last month. They have two daughters, Melissa and Michelle, who are attending college.

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