Washington Sheriff Advertises for Officers in New York City

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spent $12,000 for two days of billboard advertising in Times Square in New York City intended to recruit deputies, but ended up with a lot of nationwide attention as a result.

The ads, which run Thursday and Friday, might seem like an odd choice for a law enforcement agency 2,500 miles away.

The message was that Spokane County is looking to hire 40 experienced law enforcement officers, and pay them a $15,000 hiring bonus.

Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said he bought billboards in cities where elected officials have spoken negatively about police officers.

“New York was one of the heaviest areas where their local leaders really came out and did not support their law enforcement, actually disrespected them,” he told The Spokesman-Review.

Many on social media have pointed out a typo in the ad. In the Sheriff Office’s original Twitter and Facebook posts, photos of the billboards showed Washington spelled as “Washinton,” without the “G.”

Knezovich said that was a mistake by the ad agency and added he’s “disgusted” that some media outlets have focused on the typo.

“I’ve seen juvenile before; this is just about as juvenile as it comes,” he said. “Some kid made a mistake and that was the headline.”

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