Snoqualmie Police Department names its first detectives

At the August 27th Snoqualmie City Council meeting, SPD Chief Perry Phipps did something he had been working toward since taking the helm of the Snoqualmie Police Department early last year: he introduced the department’s two new detectives, senior SPD officers Jason Weiss and Scott Bruton.

The two detective positions were funded by a November 2016 public safety levy approved by Snoqualmie voters, but Phipps explained that he waited until the department was fully staffed again before filling the positions. [Police Departments around the state have been dealing a tight hiring market for the past few years.]

Chief Phipps said he was excited to have Weiss and Bruton in these positions and described them as “very dedicated to what they do.”

Weiss has been in law enforcement since 1995 and joined ‘SnoPo’ in 1998. Chief Phipps said Weiss has been in charge of Snoqualmie’s traffic enforcement, joking that he has traffic enforcement in his blood. Detective Weiss is also married to SPD School Resource Officer Kim Stonebraker.

Bruton has been a police officer since 2008, joining SPD in 2013. Prior to that he spent four years in the Coast Guard and holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Chief Phipps said he looks forward to having a detective unit within the department, as it is standard in many police agencies. He said in addition to investigative work that will provide officers more time to patrol, detective duties will also include networking with other agencies – because “crooks” here tend to be crooks in other areas – and case management that will hopefully lead to the successful prosecution of more felonies.

The Chief said Weiss and Bruton have jumped right into their new positions, including completing a training course on cell phone and social media forensics, which has resulted in them being able to do work for other departments.

While addressing council Weiss said he recently took over a theft case involving a deceased man that has led him to Clyde Hill and Mountlake Terrace. Bruton is currently working on a fraud case that has involved getting warrants for IP addresses, something Weiss they’ve never been able to do before.

Chief Phipps presented both Weiss and Bruton with their detective badges during Monday’s city council meeting.