Farewell to Chief Weatherly

“The day my car broke down, was the day I knew I wanted to be in the police force,” William T. (Ted) Weatherly, Jr. the Chief of Pullman Police said. Weatherly has given his heart and soul to the city of Pullman for 31 years. The end of June he will bid his goodbyes to the beloved Pullman Police Department.
Weatherly was a Texas born man. He grew up there before joining the Marine Corps when he was 18 years old. Weatherly said that he always saw himself doing something bigger and better than going right off to college. Weatherly was released from the Marine Corps January 6 1964. He received his bachelor’s degree from California State University and his master’s from University of Southern California in criminal behavior.
The day that decided his future started off like any other day recalls Weatherly. He was trying to make a decision of continuing with the Marine Corps or heading a different direction. Weatherly driving through Los Angeles had a sudden car malfunction and ended up breaking down in the middle of a Los Angeles road. An off duty Los Angeles police stopped and assisted Weatherly with his car. In the midst of the roadside confusion, the police offered Weatherly a ride and some dinner. “That was the first police that showed me his passionate side of his work,” Weatherly said. After that encounter Weatherly said that his mind was made up. “I took the test and was offered a job on the spot in the Santa Ana California Police force,” Weatherly said.
“Santa Ana is known for its gang rate being high and drive-by shootings daily,” Weatherly said. “You could wonder why someone would want to put themselves through this just for a job.” That is exactly what Weatherly did every day for his passion of being a police. He never wanted to settle for anything less than great in his job field. Weatherly wanted to advance from being a Junior Lieutenant at Santa Ana to Captain. He had tested for Captain there and was given a no in return. Weatherly soon realized that if he wanted to succeed, he could not stay in California. “There was no advancement for me there and my family and I needed a change,” Weatherly said.
Weatherly and his wife decided to start looking for a new place to call home. They had narrowed their search down to five cities; Auburn, Olympia, Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston and Pullman. “We liked the fact that the northwest had four seasons,” Weatherly said. He said for how much they enjoyed the sun; it would be nice to see the other parts of the weather. They were looking for a town that they could call home and continue raising their children at. After looking at the community and the sensing the good atmosphere, the city of Pullman won hands down. “I couldn’t ask for a better community to live in,” Weatherly said. Weatherly and his family moved to Pullman, WA in 1979.
“When I came to Pullman they were in high demand for police,” Weatherly said. “Washington State was just getting their title as a ‘party school’.” He liked the challenge of living in a college-based town. He said the town wasn’t bad; it was the mixture of youth and alcohol that became the disturbance. “I wanted to educate young people about their life from home and about dealing with alcohol abuse,” Weatherly said. “My goal moving here was to turn the party school image of WSU into a perspective university.” His passion and dedication for this town is what drives the police force in their effortless work to keep Pullman safe.
After reminiscing when he first arrived in Pullman, Weatherly suddenly gets a very warm smile. He asks if he could share a little something extra about Pullman that not many college students would know or appreciate. He brings up a slide show of Pullman in the 1980’s. Weatherly isn’t just passionate about being the Chief, he is passionate about the history of Pullman. He shares where the first Police Department was located and how different the town looked thirty years ago. Weatherly said, “The exact day that I declared the new Police Station in Pullman was April 26th 1986.”
Weatherly was not just a cop when he was on duty, he was an educator. Washington State University student Sarah Bridges realized this early on in her education. “I was driving pretty fast down stadium way last year when I got pulled over,” Bridges said. “You here about all the bad stories with the Pullman police and how the only thing they want to do is pull over any kid they want. I was prepared when the cop walked up to my window and asked for my papers but I got a huge shock when after handing them to him I received a lecture,” Bridges said. “The cop lectured me about the dangers of speeding and why I should take precaution. I never thought twice before about speeding, especially in Pullman.” “I didn’t notice until later that I actually got pulled over by the Chief of Police,” Bridges said. Weatherly doesn’t do his job because he has to or because he wants to pull people over, he does it to make Pullman a better place.
It is not 1986 anymore and the Chief of Police is no longer in his 40’s as when he arrived in Pullman. Weatherly will be turning 70 this year, and he said “I do not want to be 70 and still a cop, I want to relax and spend the rest of my years with my wife.” Weatherly will be retiring in the end of June and stepping down from the Police force. Weatherly said, “June is a good month to retire; it’s the quietest time of summer and it lets my successor get the feel of the town before school starts back up.”
Weatherly has a to-do list of what he would like to accomplish once he is retired. He doesn’t plan on sitting around all day and watching Jeopardy. Weatherly said, “I have been taking piano lessons for the past couple years and want to continue learning new music and studying the history and art of other types of music as well.” He has also taken up learning French as a second language at WSU and would like to study other languages like Latin and Spanish as well. Weatherly and his wife want to plan a yearly trip. “We want one big extravagant vacation every year that is just ours,” Weatherly said. He said that the first trip won’t start until next year and they are hoping that it will be a Mediterranean cruise.
Weatherly said that he is not sad about retiring at the end of June. He doesn’t have a single regret in his pass that led him to becoming Chief of Police for Pullman. Weatherly said he will continue living in Pullman with his wife and will enjoy his retirement every day to its fullest. Weatherly said, “I am excited to see Pullman continue to thrive and grow for the next thirty years.”