Property crime abatement and mitigating the negative impacts of drug addiction were two of the key topics during the Sultan Community Block Watch organization's first meeting of 2015.
Facilitated by Block Watch President Bob Klement, the meeting was on Sunday, Jan. 25, at Sultan Middle School. Special guests from the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office included Sheriff Ty Trenary, Bureau Chief Nelson Beazley, Communications Director Shari Ireton and Sultan Police Chief Monte Beaton.
Sultan Mayor Carolyn Eslick was also in attendance, along with approximately 44 citizens.
Klement and Eslick presented Beaton with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the citizens of Sultan. An Arlington resident, Beaton took over as the chief of police in Sultan in August 2013, after Lt. Rob Beidler transitioned out to join Sheriff Trenary's command staff.
"Monte, I've known you for a short while, about eight, nine months now, and I've really come to respect you and what you have done in this community,GÇ¥ Klement said.
Collaboration with law enforcement has been a key component of Klement's strategy to develop a more comprehensive community block watch program. Additionally, he has worked to establish meeting times that can accommodate more people, and uses social media to cultivate cooperation, vigilance and community engagement.
Recently, Sultan residents Jody and Tiffany Kerr have each taken on individual roles within the group, expanding its leadership. Tiffany is now serving as the communications officer. And Jody, as community captain, is working to establish a more defined structure. As a part of that initiative, he has been working to identify neighborhood block-watch captains throughout the city, and has been assimilating the data onto a map so that it is readily available.
Trenary advocated for block watch organizations and community policing GÇô a method of police work that involves interacting more closely with community members. He said that Snohomish County is facing significant challenges, particularly when it comes to drug abuse, and a more collaborative and holistic approach is warranted because simply arresting people doesn't seem to be doing the trick.
"Homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction are at an all-time high,GÇ¥ Trenary said. "We believe, right now, Snohomish County is the epicenter of the problem.GÇ¥
A January 2015 report produced by the Snohomish Health District confirms that when it comes to drug addiction and the use of opioid drugs, Snohomish County is seeing some disturbing trends. Heroin use has been on the rise, with heroin deaths reaching epidemic levels. The report states that from 2011 to 2013, one out of every five heroin deaths in Washington state occurred in Snohomish County.
Numbers reported by the needle exchange program in Everett, which serves Snohomish County as a whole, reflect the rise in heroin use, as well as a dramatic increase in users under age 20. In 2013, the number of clients age 19 and younger was 1,446, nearly double in comparison to the 845 clients age 19 and younger recorded in 2012, with significant increases in other age categories as well.
Program facilitators at the needle exchange attribute this change to the decreased availability of pharmaceutical opioid drugs, along with changes in the way the drugs are made. The new abuse-deterrent formulas of drugs like Oxycontin and Opana have made it so that the pills are more difficult to crush, break or dissolve. As a result, many addicts have turned to heroin, as an alternative that is both cheaper and more readily available. Trenary also said users are skipping straight to opiates, like heroin.
"It scares me to death that that's where we are right now,GÇ¥ Trenary said.
In Sultan, the community has been frustrated by drug abuse and the associated property crimes. Needles have been found in local parks, and members of the community have been victimized through car prowls, mail theft and burglaries. And Sultan is not the only area affected GÇô the issue has been county-wide. Trenary is hopeful that a new multi-jurisdictional property crimes unit will begin to slow down these types of crimes.
The new unit, which will target prolific thieves from around the county, operates out of the Marysville Police Department and is made up of detectives from the sheriff's office and several other agencies, including Marysville, Lake Stevens and the Stillaguamish and Tulalip Tribes.
The new unit is analogous to the SNOCAT unit, which was implemented in 2008 to address auto theft. In 2009, SNOCAT was recognized by the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority, after the motor vehicle theft rate dropped 29 percent.
Sultan resident Eli Dimsha explained during the meeting that, as a community, the citizens of Sultan have been encouraged to call 911 when they notice something potentially illegal or suspicious. She described a situation that occurred the day before, in which she had observed three people who were trespassing and engaged in what looked to be illegal drug use.
She called 911, and although officers responded quickly, she was frustrated because it didn't appear as though the suspects were taken to jail. She said that it was disheartening to think that nothing is being done to deter local drug-users from committing crimes.
"I think that's where some of our frustration comes from,GÇ¥ Dimsha said. "We say, "You know, it takes us as a community to make a change and make this happen.' Well, we did that yesterday. They caught three of them, in the act, in a building, doing more than enough GÇô and they were just let go.GÇ¥
While Trenary wasn't able to speculate on that situation specifically, he said encouraging community policing tactics among the deputies is something that the department can work on.
"In a true community-policing block-watch program, if you"re involved in that call, then our officer at some point GÇô whether a supervisor or a block-watch coordinator GÇô closes the loop with you, so you have an idea of what happened,GÇ¥ Trenary said. "There's room for improvement for us.GÇ¥
Another resident questioned whether heroin addicts are even taken to jail anymore. Trenary assured the group that the jail is by no means turning felons away, regardless of whether they are addicted to drugs.
He explained that the Snohomish County jail can hold GÇô at maximum capacity GÇô a total of 1,200 inmates. On average, the jail population hovers around 900 to 950 inmates per day.
"I never want to see the day we have to turn felons away, and we're not turning felons away,GÇ¥ Trenary said. "If they come to us as a non-violent misdemeanor, and we don't think we can treat them medically, we kick them right out the door because the last thing any of us want are more jail deaths.
"The people we're turning away are the ones that are heroin-addicted and mentally ill GÇô people we can't care for GÇô at the non-violent misdemeanor level,GÇ¥ he continued. "Anybody else that comes in, especially on a felony level, we put them in our step-down module.GÇ¥
It is no secret that the county faces a shortfall when it comes to both detoxification services and mental health care.
"The largest mental health hospital in Snohomish County is our jail,GÇ¥ Trenary said. "The problem is, it's neither designed nor built to be that way GÇô and we shouldn't be using it for that.GÇ¥
When it comes to alleviating drug addiction and preventing the associated property crimes, Trenary said that incarceration doesn't seem to be the answer, and if something is consistently falling short of desired expectations, it may be time to try a different strategy.
"That's why I'm advocating for funneling low level offenders into a program that helps them get clean and get jobs,GÇ¥ Trenary said. "The only reason I support that is because I've seen cities and counties do it across the country and save money.GÇ¥
Trenary said that the he will continue to support community block-watch programs like Sultan's, and will work within the department to facilitate a true community policing approach. He is also working with Snohomish resident Lynda Zambrano, who has extensive experience with establishing effective block-watch programming.
Zambrano hopes to serve as a link between law enforcement and the communities to cultivate a successful block watch model that is both durable and resilient.
For more information on Sultan's Community Block Watch program, visit www.facebook.com/groups/SultanBlockWatch/ or email: sultanblockwatch@gmail.com. The next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Sultan Eagles Club (1112 E. Main St.).
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