Michelle Bennett’s first year as a captain in the King County Sheriff’s Office is nearly over, which means in just a few weeks she will return to her former position as chief of the Maple Valley Police Department.

Bennett was promoted to captain a year ago and part of that required spending a probationary year in a different role. She was placed into the operations captain position at Precinct 3 in Maple Valley.

Her job was to oversee the daily operations of the precinct and its patrol deputies, more than 100, an opportunity she described as “an enriching growth experience.”

“I’ve gained a broad base of knowledge on county operations which is good because that can assist in coordinating city-county relations,” Bennett said.

Now she has less than 30 days left before swapping out the brown and tan uniform of sheriff’s deputies for the navy blue of Maple Valley’s police uniforms.

It’s a change Bennett is looking forward to making.

“I’m looking forward to working with the staff and officers whom I’ve missed terribly,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working in an environment like the city that is so focused on working with the community.”

While she has enjoyed the opportunity to take on different responsibilities at Precinct 3, Bennett explains, she misses the kind of daily interaction with residents she serves that is possible when working as a city police chief.

Bennett was chief in Maple Valley as a sergeant for more than four years before her promotion last June.

Another thing Bennett is excited about is getting involved with the Maple Valley community again and working on outreach programs like the drug summit she set up in December 2007 as well as her anti-bullying programs that were the focus of her doctorate research. She earned her PhD from Seattle Pacific University a year ago.

“I’m now on the board of directors of Team Tahoma,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working on projects with them.”

An example of outreach they’ll be working on in the near future, Bennett said, will be evaluating ways to assist homeless people in Maple Valley.

“I’m also looking forward to working with Communities That Care … on anti-bullying programs to stamp out bullying in schools,” she said. “And of course going back to work with (Maple Valley) Rotary as well as the faith based groups. And, of course, the Chamber of Commerce.”

Bennett has always enjoyed the fact that Maple Valley as a community has such a spirit of service and she’s happy to re-connect with that when she is chief again with her first day coming June 15.

“It’s been a great experience here and I’m excited to go back,” she said.