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King County Sheriff’s Office officials led a meeting last week that may help islanders partner with the department more closely on a range of issues, including underage alcohol and drug use.
About 30 members of the community attended last Wednesday’s meeting. Captain Ted Boe, who heads the department’s Precinct 4, which includes Vashon, led the meeting intended to improve communication between the sheriff’s office and islanders. He provided information on general department issues, ranging from precinct staffing to the complaint process, and included information specific to Vashon, including the island’s crime statistics. Boe also provided time for islanders to express concerns about issues that involve the sheriff’s office. Alcohol and drug use, along with driving under the influence (DUI), was a prevailing topic.
Following the meeting, Boe said he felt it was a good event with a good chance for dialogue.
“I look forward to building on some old and new relationships,” he said in an email.
In 2015, the sheriff’s office dispatched slightly more than 1,900 calls for service on Vashon; those calls included 80 traffic accidents, three DUI investigations, five fight or disturbance calls, 45 domestic violence investigations, 17 commercial burglaries, 37 residential burglaries, six car thefts and 71 larcenies.
Boe called Vashon’s burglary rate “amazingly low,” but noted the island leads the precinct “by far” in burglaries of unlocked structures.
While Vashon has fewer crimes than other areas, Boe said that many of the serious incidents that happen here carry a larger impact than similar incidents in larger places. He mentioned fatal motor vehicle crashes in particular.
“The effect is greater because of how tightly linked and social you are,” he said.
This topic led to a conversation about drinking and driving — and Vashon’s low arrest rate in recent years for driving under the influence.
He noted there were just three arrests for impaired driving last year on Vashon.
“The numbers for DUIs are too low,” he said.
By contrast, Snoqualmie, about the same size as Vashon, had 14 DUI arrests in the same time. Boe noted the island’s deputies will bring increased attention to the issue.
Additionally, Theresa Hampl, a representative from VARSA, the Vashon Alliance to Reduce Substance Abuse, spoke about that group’s concerns regarding the island’s high underage substance abuse rate and low law enforcement statistics related to it.
On Vashon, she said, 41 percent of 11th and 12th graders reported using alcohol in the last 30 days, according to results from the most recent Healthy Youth Survey. Additionally, VARSA has gathered many reports of students driving under the influence — of marijuana, especially.
She added that in 2014, sheriff’s deputies did not cite any minors for underage drinking, and in 2015, they cited only one minor.
Hampl inquired how the sheriff’s office might partner with the community to address the issues involved.
Boe stressed interest in doing so, but expressed limits about the department’s effectiveness, noting that change would need to be part of a larger community effort.
“I am not the one who changes your kids’ mindset about smoking weed,” he said. “I cannot change the culture if the culture accepts the behavior.”
Following the meeting, Hampl said that she asked the questions to stress the seriousness of the problem in the community and to understand how to best partner with law enforcement, noting VARSA would like a deputy at each of its monthly meetings. In part, she said, the group wants to ensure that the laws currently regarding youth substance use are enforced to ensure substantive consequences for poor choices.
In a follow-up conversation, Boe said he expects the department will act on the invitation and partner more with VARSA going forward.
“I think it is a great opportunity,” he said. “We all share the same goals.”
Following the meeting, islander Reed Fitzpatrick said he would like to see a new island group form that would focus on community safety — and partner with the sheriff’s office. Such a group could address a variety of island problems and devise programs to address them based on best practices, he said.
Fitzpatrick said such a group could include a range of stakeholders: social service providers, businesses, the schools and others. Islanders who wish to participate should contact him at reed369@comcast.net.
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