A message from Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones:
I am very happy to welcome Sharon Palmerton as a volunteer Public Information Officer for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
Sharon lives in Moses Lake and is the Head of Community Affairs at REC Silicon in Moses Lake. She is the past president of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Moses Lake Rotary. Her experience, personality and abilities make her an excellent addition to my staff.
Public Information Officers (PIOs) fulfill the duties of connecting the media and citizens with accurate Sheriff’s Office information and sharing it as quickly as possible, especially at evolving incidents where timely information and safety instructions are critical. Sharon is now teamed with my other volunteer PIO, Kyle Foreman.
I have always made it a top priority to communicate with the citizens we serve. In today’s society where information moves at great speed, the GCSO has a responsibilty to provide its public information in order to ensure accuracy. Using electronic tools such as our Nixle notification system (which reaches over 1500 subscribers), email, text messages, Facebook (with over 1300 ‘Likes’), Twitter; and the basic and equally-important skills of speaking directly with citizens and the media, the GCSO has been able to notify people of crimes-in-progress, road closures, and newsworthy events.
One thing we considered when bringing Sharon aboard was the demand for information. We looked for local data and found iFIBER One News conducted a poll this summer asking their viewers, “What type of news would you like to see more of?” The majority of respondents – over 59 percent – said they wanted more stories on police and courts. Learning that, we knew the information we provide is important to people and it only made sense to add another PIO to help us achieve our goals.
Please take a moment to welcome Sharon to my staff.
