“Where there’s tragedy, the local police officer is almost always the first one there,” said Deputy Cory Manchester, Central Kitsap High School’s School Resource Officer (SRO). 

Prior to any EMT, firefighter, or paramedic, Deputy Manchester has been a first responder to emergency and tragedy in Kitsap County for over 16 years. 

Manchester, having had quite the versatile career, has nearly done it all. From flying drones for the sheriff’s office to working undercover as a detective, he’s seen and been to just about every neighborhood. 

Deputy Manchester’s first time on the field was in high school. The cadet program, offering active experience and basic training, gave students at Olympic High School the opportunity to volunteer with the Kitsap County Sheriff Office. 

Getting to go on ride-alongs, to an academy, and work with local deputies, Deputy Manchester fell in love with the job.

 After high school ended, he pursued a career in youth ministry. Even then, he couldn’t stop thinking about becoming an officer. 

Finally deciding to apply to the sheriff’s office, Manchester got the job and would be trained at a live-in academy. For the next couple of months, he would be taught the ins and outs of law enforcement. 

Deputy Sean Kirkwood and Manchester met on the job, both starting off as patrol officers. 

“Cory has a near photographic memory,” said Deputy Kirkwood, co-worker and friend of Manchester. 

“So if you see a name and a date of birth, he can remember that name and date of birth, their address, their history, their felony, their warrant status. He can remember that for years.”

Deputy Kirkwood and Manchester met on the job, both starting off as patrol officers. For a few years they did patrols together, eventually being promoted to a task force around the same time as each other. 

For the West Sound Narcotic Enforcement Team, or WestNET for short, the two worked as case managers. On the task force, much of the work done is proactive. 

Interviewing people, gathering information, creating plans, and building cases were integral to the job, and the team would often work with state and federal agencies. 

According to Kirkwood, Manchester excelled at getting individuals who wouldn’t typically talk to law enforcement to talk to him, valuing their trust and whatever they may have concerns about. 

“He’s the kind of cop that when you are a cop, you always think, if something were to happen to my family or something were to happen to a family that I know– If he were assigned to the case, I would feel very confident that he would do a wonderful job because he has an outstanding work ethic,” said Kirkwood.

Deputy Manchester worked as a detective for six years. During that time, he was on the Missing and Exploited Children Task Force. As a team, the MECTF would plan operations to take down local predators. 

Sometimes Manchester worked on surveillance, others he would be on the arrest team. One of the most notable cases, however, has been that of Jeremy Blaine Fenney. 

In 2016, Deputy Manchester was working as an undercover detective and discovered a stolen car at the Safeway in Silverdale, Washington. A couple of people were inside the car and they notified Manchester of a house not too far from Silverdale where a woman was being held against her will. 

She was being forced into sex work and a case was built. The house was raided and two women were rescued.

The victim was able to receive treatment and Fenney went to court, convicted on 44 felony counts. Charged of rape, kidnapping, assault, and human trafficking, Fenney was sentenced to over 340 years in prison. 

This case is undoubtedly one of the biggest human trafficking busts in the county, and since the conviction Manchester and his wife have formed a friendship with the woman. 

“I just had a dynamite prosecution team,” said Manchester. 

“The two female prosecutors that I worked with primarily were all about holding this guy accountable. They pushed me to investigate everything to the fullest.” 

According to Kirkwood, Deputy Manchester fully earned the respect and trust of the prosecutor’s office. 

There have been many times throughout Manchester’s career where he’s had to go on stand to testify. At times it could be very hard given the nature of many of the cases, Manchester admitted. 

Having to relive the events can be challenging, but the deputy has found that testifying in itself is not difficult, especially if you prepare prior to the trial. 

In Manchester’s experience, predators and traffickers are looking for someone who’s vulnerable. Adult offenders may spend their time at the mall, for example. 

It’s important the offender finds someone they’re able to manipulate, and when they do, they’ll use tactics to build a relationship with the victim. 

It’s much more common for trafficking to happen through somebody a victim knows and is familiar with, as opposed to a stranger forcefully kidnapping someone. 

Manchester advises that people be more careful about who they’re interacting with online. Predators and traffickers may try to intrigue a potential victim with an offer or opportunity. 

In February of last year, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (UPCS) is unconstitutional in State v. Blake. This has caused WestNET to lose funding. 

Some members of the task force have decided to retire or return to working as patrolmen, but Manchester decided to begin working as a SRO. 

“This is more relationship building. Talking to kids, finding out what’s going on in their home lives, and showing up to their sporting events,” said Manchester.

A change of pace, Manchester is focused on establishing relationships and assuring safety to students at CKHS. Deputy Manchester works alongside Helen Dean, the campus security officer. 

“He’s very funny,” said Dean. “He’s very approachable, very knowledgeable. Any questions I have about anything, I feel very comfortable talking to him about. I can tell that he genuinely cares about the students here in the building and he cares about his position as an ambassador of the police force.”