Special investigator weighs in on Benton sheriff’s role in gun rights dispute
There is no evidence the Benton County sheriff broke the law when he weighed in on a gun rights dispute of a former Richland police detective, says a recently released independent review.
A Yakima Police Department lieutenant recently finished a nearly yearlong look into the allegations involving Benton County Sheriff Tom Croskrey, former Richland Police Chief Brigit Clary and a former Richland detective, Jeff Bickford.
“While there are an enormous number of documents attached to this investigation, many are duplicative and offer no evidence to support the assertion that anyone committed a crime,” Yakima Lt. Chad Janis wrote in his two-page conclusion.
Benton County Prosecutor Eric Eisinger had asked Yakima police and Grant County Prosecutor Kevin McCrae to look at the findings of a 135-page report by a Seattle law firm to give an independent determination if anyone broke the law.
The Tri-City Herald obtained a copy of Janis’ memo to McCrae through a Washington Public Records Act request.
McCrae has not made public his official decision on whether anyone acted improperly. He did not respond last week to Herald questions about the investigation, and it’s not clear if he will make a decision before he leaves his position in August.
The issue involves a federal law that allows retired law enforcement officers to continue to carry concealed weapons in much of the United States.
The idea is that former police officers should have the right to protect themselves and others no matter where they are even if they are no longer law enforcement officers.
However, a Richland city attorney concluded that Washington state doesn’t allow the city to issue a “retired” card to officers who leave with a mental or stress-related disability.
Stress related claim
Bickford left the Richland Police Department in 2021 after 20 years on the job. Soon after resigning, he filed a state Labor and Industries claim for compensation for stress related to his former law enforcement job.
The police chief at the time and the city attorney believed the alleged mental health issues barred them from authorizing the concealed weapons card.
They told the Criminal Justice Training Commission at the time that Bickford should not be issued the card.
Croskrey, who previously worked for the Richland Police Department, sent a letter in January 2022 to the commission on Bickford’s behalf in support of him receiving the card.
Clary was the Richland police chief at the time and initially adamantly opposed issuing the card but then reversed her position just days before she left the city on medical leave and her eventual retirement.
Later, an investigator claimed Clary changed her position — and possibly violated the law — because she feared a damning report about her own actions at a previous job in Federal Way six years earlier was about to be made public.
Bickford had asked for a copy of the internal investigation of Clary from Federal Way.
Richland investigation
Richland city officials asked the Seattle law firm Inslee Best to look into why they did not know that Clary was reportedly about to be fired from her job with the Federal Way Police Department before she was hired in Richland.
City officials also wanted to know how the release of that investigation six years later may have been used to pressure her to allow Bickford to have a concealed weapons card.
The “retired” card was one of the things that Katherine Weber with Inslee Best looked into.
Bickford requested a Federal Way investigation in October 2023, about two weeks after Clary announced plans to retire.
At that time, he started making requests to get a “retired” card, which would allow him to carry a concealed pistol no matter where he is in the U.S.
City Attorney Heather Kintzley told Bickford in an email that his mental or stress-related disability prevented the city from issuing a “retired” card.
That sparked a two-year fight.
The law firm’s report said Bickford contacted other law enforcement officers he’d worked with over the years trying to convince Richland to approve his permit.
After Clary became the chief in 2022, she continued to deny his request and she grew angry about attempts to circumvent her decision, according to the report.
Sheriff Croskrey’s Letter
One of the items that concerned Clary was a letter that Sheriff Croskrey wrote on Bickford’s behalf in January 2022.
Croskrey gave the letter to Bickford, who then provided it to the state Criminal Justice Training Commission.
Croskrey no longer worked for Richland but he said in the letter that Bickford left the Richland department in good standing and had never been denied a special gun permit by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Tri-City Herald.
The law firm’s report found his statement troubling because Bickford had never worked for Benton County.
“While it is true that Mr. Bickford had not been denied a retired card by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office due to a disqualifying mental health reason, Mr. Bickford was not at any time employed by the BCSO and did not retire from the BCSO,” Weber wrote.
Weber said the letter gave “the impression Sheriff Croskrey was not transparent or forthcoming” with the state commission.
Alan Harvey, an attorney speaking for Croskrey, told the Herald previously that the sheriff had no intention of misleading the state agency. He was trying to prompt a conversation.
The sheriff based his letter on a notice from former Richland Police Chief John Bruce, who said Bickford left the department in good standing.
Harvey argued that Richland’s denial of the gun permit is based on flawed legal analysis using the incorrect law. But state law doesn’t allow officers to appeal the city’s decision.
Croskrey hoped that the Criminial Justice Training Commission would reach out to him with any questions before issuing the permit and never said that Bickford worked for him, Harvey said.
After learning about the concerns raised in the law firm’s report, Croskrey asked in March 2024 for an investigation by the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office into his action to make sure he didn’t violate any of his own agency’s policies. The issue remains under investigation, said Harvey.
About a month after Croskrey gave Bickford the letter, Bickford applied to the state commission for the permit in February 2022. He received the permit in April 2022, according to the law firm’s report.
When Clary learned about the decision she was “pissed,” “extremely offended” and “outraged,” said Weber in the law firm’s report.
“Chief Clary believed that Sheriff Croskrey improperly usurped her authority and that Mr. Bickford did an illegitimate and bad faith end run around her and the department to secure his retired card,” Weber said.
Clary and Kintzley sent a letter to the commission saying that Bickford is ineligible for the special permit because of his stress-related disability.
Clary reversed course in October and agreed to recommend he get the permit, said Weber’s report.
Richland hired the firm a month after Clary left on medical leave. And the city didn’t receive the report until two months after she’d officially retired on Jan. 1, 2024.
Other Richland officials only learned about Clary’s decision to issue the card when the state agency checked in with them.
Richland report reaction
After the Inslee Best report came out, there were accusations from an anonymous source that Croskrey’s actions were improper.
The Benton County prosecutor sent Richland’s report first to the Washington State Patrol. The agency sent it back to him and said it would be better to send it to another agency.
Eisinger then asked the Yakima Police Department to look into it in March 2024.
At the same time, Croskrey asked the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office to conduct an internal investigation to determine if he violated any administrative codes.
“While this situation is not common, I have no evidence of an integrity issue or dishonesty on the part of Sheriff Croskrey,” Lt. Jake Church concluded in his report.
This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.