DIRTY COPS (2)

On February 23, 2026, Whatcom County Sheriff Donnell Tanksley--former Blaine Chief of Police--wrote an op-ed suggesting that voters recall chiefs of police and sheriffs found by the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) to have violated the law in their duties, rather than have them step down immediately upon being decertified by the CJTC as law enforcement officers. On March 6, 2026, the CJTC opened an investigation of current Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk.

Tanksley's department declined to charge Blaine City Councilman Mike Hill for accosting an open government activist at the November 12, 2024 Blaine City Council meeting (Case No. 24A39027). Funk's department declined to charge David Brudvik for threatening to murder four open government activists at the October 13, 2025 Blaine City Council meeting, with Mayor Mary Lou Steward's approval. Whatcom District Court Judge Angela Anderson issued civil protection orders for the four on November 4, 2025. Chief Funk persuaded Whatcom County Prosecutor Eric Richey to not charge Brudvik--a convicted violent felon--and testified in court on Brudvik's behalf.

The original complaint by a Blaine open government activist to the CJTC stems from a February 12, 2024 incident at Blaine City Hall, when Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward, Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon, and then Blaine Chief of Police Tanksley conspired to bait and arrest an open government activist at a city council meeting for questioning the legality of council actions. After the verbal confrontation with Mayor Steward, the open government activist received a death threat. 

The open government activist later filed a complaint against newly-appointed Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk with the CJTC, and a request to Chief Funk to refer another death threat investigation to an unbiased law enforcement agency, such as the WA State Patrol or FBI. Chief Funk refused, and retained control of a death threat victim who had already reported him to the CJTC for misconduct.

When Whatcom County Sheriff Donnell Tanksley--former Blaine Chief of Police--opined on the CJTC investigation of current Blaine Chief of Police Rodger Funk, Tanksley noted his own previous work with the commission that oversees law enforcement officers. Funk himself had applied to become a member of the commission. Against that backdrop, Funk's failure to refer a death threat investigation to an unbiased agency such as the WA State Patrol or FBI--thereby retaining control of a death threat victim who had a pending complaint against him before the CJTC--reeks of corruption. 

Chief Funk's relationship with Whatcom County Prosecutor Eric Richey--who supported Funk in his bid to replace Tanksley as Blaine Chief of Police--is revealing. Richey not only assisted Funk in derailing an investigation into the October 13, 2025 death threat by a supporter of Mayor Steward against open government activists demanding transparency and accountability from their city government; he also refused to look into criminal misconduct by Blaine officials, even when provided with the evidence from public records.