Voting Opens Today For Farrar in 'America's Most Wanted' Competition

He's a wanted man, in a good way that is.

Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar was voted into the finals of the “America’s Most Wanted” All-Star competition. His entry was posted two days late during the second round in February, but it didn’t make a difference – he swept that week’s votes in the semi-final round.

Now, he is hoping that the people he serves in and around Lakewood will help him be named the first winner from Washington state in the national competition’s seven-year history.

Voting begins today and runs through May 8. People can vote once a day here. Fararr’s competition – there are eight finalists – includes law-enforcement officers from Florida, Minnesota and California.

“I am a little overwhelmed by how much everyone has taken to this and wants to go out and rally for votes and get me this award,” Farrar said. “It’s very heartwarming.”

Lakewood Police Lt. Chris Lawler said that Farrar’s colleagues are already getting the word out to people across the state to vote. Posters are hanging in Forza coffee shops asking people to vote, and a brief segment will air on Saturday’s episode of “Washington’s Most Wanted.”

“Everybody is really stoked,” Lawler said, adding that he sent a news release to the department and requested that they pass it on to anyone they know in other law-enforcement agencies. “I already have 10 e-mails from people saying they passed it on here and there.”

The outpouring of support is no surprise to Lawler, who said that Farrar being chief was a key factor in why he came to work for the Lakewood Police Department. He calls his boss “likeable and fair.”

“He is a police officer’s chief,” he said. “Everyone relates to him really well. He started out as a regular police officer and worked his way up to chief … and he genuinely cares about the people that work with him, all the way down to the line guys working on the road.

“That means a lot when a chief cares from the bottom up to the top.”

Lawler said that Farrar’s leadership was never more evident than in the wake of the of four Lakewood police officers in November 2009.

“He was the real reason that we came together,” he said. “He’s an amazing leader and it really showed during that time when we could have gotten lost.”

Farrar said that the community – “not just Lakewood, but Pierce County, and Washington” – embraced his department after the tragedy and that his All-Star nomination is an extension of that.

“From the moment we lost our four officers in that coffee shop that morning, the community has really taken us under their wing and showed their support,” he said.

Farrar, who has been a police officer for more than 20 years, was nominated by Kalina Miller, with whom he works with on the city’s Public Safety Board.

In her nomination letter, Miller said that Farrar is “a mentor to me and a wonderful example to many through his strong leadership and his commitment to the community despite his battle with cancer.”

Farrar had never heard of the All-Star competition prior to receiving a congratulatory e-mail from the show.

“We’re having a lot of fun with it,” he said. “A lot of people are stepping up and getting involved and helping me to win this thing.”

The grand-prize winner will be presented with a $10,000 check at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., and also wins a trip to the All-Star Weekend at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in North Carolina later this spring.