Island County officials, community meet to tackle rising crime | CORRECTED

Nearly 100 people and Island County government officials gathered at the South Whidbey High School commons on May 19 to address property crime issues facing the South End. Organized by the Island County Sheriff’s Office, the meeting began as a calm informational session on new resources available to the public and what residents can do to secure their possessions, but became a heated and open discussion once questions started rolling in from community members.

By Kyle Jensen • May 20, 2016 7:44 pm
Representatives of Whidbey Telecom educate attendees on security and alarm systems at a property crime meeting May 19 in the South Whidbey High School commons.
Representatives of Whidbey Telecom educate attendees on security and alarm systems at a property crime meeting May 19 in the South Whidbey High School commons.

Nearly 100 people and Island County government officials gathered at the South Whidbey High School commons on May 19 to address property crime issues facing the South End.

Organized by the Island County Sheriff’s Office, the meeting began as a calm informational session on new resources available to the public and what residents can do to secure their possessions, but became a heated and open discussion once questions started rolling in from community members.

Those in attendance were visibly frustrated with what they perceived as rising property crime rates, with many of the attendees directly affected by burglary. The gathering was an offshoot of a tense meeting with the building community in April regarding a number of construction sites and commercial properties that were hit by burglars in quick succession.

Langley Police Chief David Marks said Langley was experiencing an uptick in property crime. Detective Sergeant Laura Price of the sheriff’s office backed that up by saying that without looking at the statistics, she felt that the rates have increased. A solution? Neighborhood watch groups, according to Price.

Price began the meeting by rolling out a new interactive incident viewer map on the sheriff’s office’s website. The interactive map documents all incidents from the previous two weeks, and differentiates among calls to the sheriff’s office, Langley Police Department and Coupeville Marshal’s office. An incident is classified as a 9-1-1 call to the call center. The incident map is located at http://islandcountygis.maps.arcgis.com/home/ and can be found with the other Island County GIS web maps.

The meeting was set up to feature a number of speakers from various local government departments including Chief Criminal Deputy Rick Felici, Mental Health Supervisor of the Island County Human Services Department Charlene Ray, Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks and Detective Chris Peabody. Two representatives from Whidbey Telecom also presented information on security systems.

Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, Sheriff Mark Brown and Langley Mayor Tim Callison were also in the audience.

After roughly an hour of tips on how to secure your property and possessions through practices such as marking your belongings, lighting your yard overnight and installing alarm systems, attendees began asking Island police what they plan to do to slow the crime rate. Outside of property crimes, meeting attendees were concerned about the drug issue on South Whidbey.

Price and other speakers unanimously responded by encouraging a more engaged public, saying neighborhood watch groups and quicker calls to the police would make a difference.

“The most important aspect of this meeting is community and encouraging neighborhood watch groups,” Price said. “It’s important for the citizens to be involved in their community, because it helps us do our job better.”

While Felici encouraged community members to be good witnesses and practice cautious security measures, many in the audience felt police weren’t fully utilizing their time on the clock. Many vented frustration about police camping out on Highway 525 to catch traffic violators, feeling they could use their time to combat drug and property crime instead.

The meeting was adjourned with many questions still to be asked, but the conversation continued among community members and presenters for at least another half hour. The direct engagement with the public was the goal of the meeting, said Price, but she hopes those who were not in attendance also get on board with the neighborhood watch groups.

“This is still a community that is safe and great for raising children,” Price said. “I think the biggest issue is that all the people who were affected by property crimes were here tonight, and we need engagement from those who haven’t been hit.”

Price encouraged community members to contact her directly if they’re interested in starting a community watch group. Price can be reached at 360-321-5111 ext. 7310.

 

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly paraphrased Langley Police Chief David Marks. He said crime on South Whidbey has affected everyone, even police. He has not been burglarized, however, as was originally reported.