Spokane Police Department accountability director to become rookie cop

Spokane Police Department director Tim Schwering, who graduated from the police academy Wednesday, is trading in his desk job to go out on patrol as a rookie cop.

Department spokeswoman Officer Teresa Fuller confirmed that Schwering will join the ranks of the patrol officers. He will spend about five months working with four different training officers before he can go out on patrol on his own, she said.

Schwering will be treated just like any other rookie, Fuller said.

“That would be the expectation,” she said. “He’s starting from the bottom.”

Schwering’s job as director of SPD’s Office of Professional Accountability has been filled since January by Lt. Justin Ludgren, who was promoted to major after he took over Schwering’s job. The promotion was intended to be temporary. Lundgren will remain in that position for now, Fuller said.

Schwering, a former fraud investigator with the federal public defender’s office, was hired in 2013 as a civilian. He was paid $105,339 in 2015. An entry level officer makes a minimum of roughly $48,000 a year, according to the city’s website.