New Chief Sees Fighting Drugs as Biggest Challenge

Kodiak Police Chief Ronda Wallace

Jay Barrett/KMXT
Yesterday KMXT told you who the new Kodiak chief of police is – today, we hear a little bit from Chief Ronda Wallace herself.
“I started in 1998, and came in as patrol officer and I worked my way up through the ranks through the years and kinda held many positions from patrol officer to uniformed investigator to detective, to detective sergeant and lieutenant. And to chief of police, where I am now.”
Wallace’s 15 years on the KPD were largely spent working for retired Chief T.C. Kamai:
“You know he did such a wonderful job of bringing us to such a well-rounded, whole, very professional department. I have plans in the future, of course, but nothing immediate to change. We have a very good stable department (with) awesome employees, and right now it’s just a matter of finding my fit and then just seeing what the future offers.”
As far as challenges the department faces, Wallace said one stands out the most for her:
“What we’ve been faced with and have been dealing with for many years – and I don’t know that the public sees it very much – is our problem with drugs in the city. It is very … it’s epidemic. It’s bad. And that is a challenge still for us that we’re going to have to keep right on plugging away at to tackle.”
Wallace is specifically referring to hard drugs, such as heroin. Two deaths on the same day earlier this year were attributed to the drug, and used syringes are often found discarded in different parts of town.
Wallace, who took over as Kodiak Police Chief on Friday, is 45-years old and has lived in Kodiak for 22 years. She is originally from Emmet, Idaho. She replaced T.C. Kamai, who had spent 25 years with the department before retiring in September.