Undersheriff Ponozzo retires; Rectenwald appointed Undersheriff, Canfield appointed Chief Deputy
EPHRATA, Wash. (28NOV2018) -- Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones today announced the retirement of Undersheriff Dave Ponozzo and the appointments of Ryan Rectenwald as Undersheriff and Dustin Canfield as Chief Deputy of Special Operations.
Ponozzo's retirement sums up a celebrated 36 year career in law enforcement which started in 1982 when he served as a corrections officer at the Washington State Penitentiary. From 1987 to 1988 he served as a patrol officer for the Soap Lake Police Department and was hired by the Grant County Sheriff's Office in 1988.
At the sheriff's office, Ponozzo served in a variety of assignments including deputy, sergeant and chief deputy, detective on the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team, and rose to the rank of Undersheriff in 2011 within Sheriff Tom Jones's administration.
Ponozzo has accepted a position as emergency manager for Grant PUD.
“As a young law enforcement professional that had just been hired by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, I had Dave Ponozzo as my patrol Sergeant,” said Sheriff Tom Jones. “He was a great leader, mentor and cop. Having come up through the ranks in the Sheriff’s Office and eventually being elected as Sheriff, I wanted to continue seeing that leadership in the agency. It was an easy decision to appoint Dave as my Undersheriff. He has affected many lives throughout his career and I have no doubt that he will be just as successful in his future endeavor. He will be missed for sure.”
Rectenwald began his law enforcement career in the U.S. Army serving in the Military Police from 1987 to 1995. In 1996 he joined the Grant County Sheriff’s Office as a corrections deputy, and in 1997 became a patrol officer with the Ephrata Police Department. In 2003 he rejoined the sheriff’s office and has served a patrol deputy, major crimes detective, detective on the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team, and as Chief Deputy of Special Operations.
Canfield began his law enforcement career in 2007 with the Quincy Police Department, where he served as a patrol officer and as a detective assigned to the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team. In 2010, Chief Canfield was hired as a deputy with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office where he served three years in patrol, three years on the Motor Traffic Unit as a patrol deputy and technical collision investigator, and was promoted to sergeant in January 2017 and assigned to a patrol platoon.
Canfield will oversee the Major Crimes Unit, Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team, Marine Patrol and ORV Units.
Rectenwald and Canfield will receive their oaths of office on Monday, December 3, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room, second floor of the Law and Justice Building, 35 C St Northwest, Ephrata. The public is invited to attend.
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Photo: L-R Dave Ponozzo, Ryan Rectenwald and Dustin Canfield
