City of Yakima

The city of Yakima named the five finalists for the Yakima police chief position on Thursday.

Three hail from California, one comes from Washington, and one is from Colorado. The candidates are Jason Horton, Michael Lester, Darrell Lowe, Matthew Murray, and Donald Treat.

The candidates are participating in panel interviews with law enforcement, police union staff, city staff members, and community members on Thursday. Two “meet and greets” are scheduled Friday: one with the Yakima Police Department and

a second with the public, scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the south foyer of the Yakima Convention Center.

ABOUT THE CANDIDATES

Information shared about the police chief candidates, per city press release, in alphabetical order:

JASON HORTON

In January, Horton was named director of the California Code Enforcement Department in Riverside County, California. He served with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department since 1993 in various roles, including as captain and chief deputy sheriff.

MICHAEL LESTER

Lester is the assistant police chief in Vancouver, Washington. He joined the Vancouver Police Department in 1992, where he served as a special operations division commander and a drug task force detective sergeant, among other roles.

DARRELL LOWE

Lowe is the interim captain of police for the Criminal Investigations Division in Santa Monica Police Department in California. He joined the department in 1993, where he served as a lieutenant of police and as an executive officer to the deputy chief of police, among other roles.

MATTHEW MURRAY

Murray is a police lieutenant for the Denver Police Department. He joined the department in 1991, where he served as a deputy chief of police-chief of staff, police commander and detective in the department’s major crimes division. 

DONALD TREAT

Treat is the assistant special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Los Angeles, California. He joined the FBI in 1998, where he served as an assistant section chief in McLean, Virginia, and as an assistant legal attaché for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, among other roles.