Served three towns at once: John Goyke will depart for Texas after posting unique police mark

John Goyke, the Oakesdale marshal who holds a unique duty mark in Whitman County law enforcement, plans to depart next month for San Antonio, Texas, to begin a new chapter in his life. Goyke noted the San Antonio area has a growing economy, and he hopes to land a position which will generate more income.

Goyke two years ago served the police departments for Oakesdale, Rosalia and Malden at the same time. Budget constrictions ended the Malden and Rosalia positions, and Goyke has been a combination marshal and public works employee at Oakesdale.

He has been at Oakesdale for about five and one-half years.

His patrol work at Rosalia ended last November when the town decided they could no longer afford a second officer in the police department there. Goyke worked part-time in Rosalia for about five years.

The Malden job, where Goyke was hired on an on-call basis, ended at the start of 2008. In fact, after Malden shut down its police operation, Goyke purchased the town’s police car, a fully equipped 1990 Chevrolet Caprice. He subsequently used the car, which was unmarked, on duty in Oakesdale and in Rosalia last year until that job ended in November.

Goyke said he has given the former Malden squad car to his dad, Michael Goyke, who farms in the Rosalia area.

“He’s given me a few cars over the years, so I decided to give him one,” Goyke said.

Goyke was raised on the family ranch in the Rosalia area and graduated from Rosalia High School in 1994. He earned a degree in political science from WSU and a law degree from Vermont Law School. He also earned a criminal justice degree from Washington State University.

Those college degrees are one of the key reasons Goyke has decided to check out the job market in Texas. He still has college loans to pay back, and the income level for small town positions in Whitman County, especially after budget cutbacks, doesn’t generate enough to pay off the college debt and cover living expenses.

“It just doesn’t pencil out,” Goyke explained.

Splitting his work load between police and public works can be a challenge.

For example, last winter he was plowing snow with a backhoe in Oakesdale when he got a dispatch call to respond to a domestic violence report. He responded to the scene aboard the backhoe.

Goyke noted state law to qualify for duty credit for retirement requires officers to be in uniform and carry a weapon. That sometimes gets a little difficult when he’s on a public works assignment with a gun belt.

Goyke hopes his training and subsequent state certification for water and sewer operations, which he paid on his own, can land him a higher paying job in the growing San Antonio area. He also is considering launching a law career by taking the Texas bar examination.

He added he does not plan to go into police work.