WAITSBURG - During an interview with The Times, Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner cited a long list of reasons he's proud of his first four-year term as Sheriff. He said it began with listening to employees and the end result has been a significant reduction in crime.

"When I first took office I did a lot of listening," Turner said. "I met with all of the employees and I asked them what we could do to make their jobs easier."

Turner said he started out by implementing a new set of mission, vision and core values statements. He said he expects all of the department's employees to understand them and make them an important part of the department's culture.

"As public servants, we need to be held to a higher standard," Turner said. "I want these values to be ingrained into the culture."

Since Turner took office, the Sheriff's Office has implemented 24/7 patrol coverage. Four squads of patrol officers have been established, each working alternating 12-hour shifts. The new schedule allows all officers to work some days and some nights and get some weekends off.

"With this schedule, we are also able to provide extra training for officers in teams," Turner said. He said corrections employees have also converted to 12-hour shifts. He said these changes were negotiated as part of new collective bargaining agreements with both groups.

Turner cited several other accomplishments over the past four years, including establishing two K-9 teams, partnering with other local law enforcement agencies to form the Walla Walla Valley Strategic Gang Initiative, establishing four quarterly Sheriff's Roundtable Meetings with local citizens and increasing officer presence in local high schools.

"I am also proud that we have operated consistently under budget," Turner said. "We have returned a total of $430,000 to the general fund" over the past four years, he said.

Turner also said that Walla Walla County has experienced a 19% decrease in serious crime in the past four years. "We have made a focused effort to reduce crime," he said, "and our deputies have done an outstanding job on this."

Turner grew up in Los Angeles and joined the Los Angeles Police Department after receiving a Bachelor's Degree in the mid 1980s from the University of Southern California. He also received a law degree from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles.

According to his web site, Turner later worked as a private attorney, primarily representing law enforcement personnel in administrative, civil and criminal cases.

In 2004, Turner and his wife, Jacqui, moved to Walla Walla, when he became managing partner at Ash Hollow Winery. John and Jacqui are both descendents of Walla Walla County farm families. Turner is great grandson of Frederick Hofer, who came to the Prescott area and began farming in 1870. The farm is still in the family, and Turner has many relatives in the area.

In 2008 and 2009, Turner served in Iraq as an advisor to the U.S. Army. When Sheriff Mike Humphries announced his retirement in 2010, Turner joined a threeway race, against Jim Romine and Bill White, and was elected.