Duty Death: Randy Gibson - [Kalama]
End of Service: 10/01/2017
By Police1 Staff
KALAMA, Wash. — Kalama Police Chief Randy Gibson died Tuesday after a long cancer battle.
Gibson, 59, went into respiratory distress while making a high-stress arrest Tuesday, according to The Daily News. The department said in a press release that he drove himself to the hospital.
He was released to go home, where he died later that evening.
Gibson became chief of police in 2011 to a department that went through three chiefs in 17 years. With 20 years of law enforcement experience, Gibson brought stability and respect back to the department, the publication reported.
“He took a department that was in decay and brought it back to respectability,” Mayor Pete Poulsen said. “He was an incredible administrator, an incredible person and an incredible law enforcement officer. There will be no one else like him. … I’m so sad about it.”
Kelso Police Chief Andy Hamilton was a close friend of Gibson. He said Gibson was a “calming presence” for his officers.
“Randy came into the city of Kalama at a very difficult time. The agency just needed some good solid leadership. Bless his heart, he came in. He was just a good, good man,” Sheriff Mark Nelson said. “He really turned things around.”
Despite fighting cancer, Gibson never let the disease hold him back.
“He always had a smile on his face and a joke to crack, but he didn’t take himself too seriously,” Poulsen said.
Gibson is survived by his wife.