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Agencies reflect on crime counts

Clark County and each of six cities has its own needs, responses

By Patty Hastings, Columbian Social Services, Demographics, Faith
Published: May 25, 2015, 5:00pm
2 Photos
Police investigate a fatal collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian at Vancouver Mall Drive and Northeast 72nd Avenue on  Jan.
Police investigate a fatal collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian at Vancouver Mall Drive and Northeast 72nd Avenue on Jan. 19, 2014. Photo Gallery

If you ask Vancouver police Chief James McElvain why crime occurs, the overarching reason is clear: It’s human nature. You should be able to leave your wallet on a sidewalk and have nobody touch it, but that just isn’t going to happen.

“The more we’re around people the more opportunities there are for crime to occur,” McElvain said. “As long as you have laws, people are going to break them.”

Crime rates are one way to measure reported criminal activity in a given area. The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs recently released its annual report, analyzing certain crime rates in 2014. Violent crimes and property crimes make up the majority of their calculations.

The crime rate, reported as crimes per 1,000 residents, tells a slightly different story for each jurisdiction in the county.

Vancouver

The crime rate and overall number of crimes in Vancouver have been consistently decreasing each year, according to the report, but McElvain isn’t singing his own praises.

“Most police chiefs and sheriffs are very hesitant to take credit for crime decreases based on policing itself,” McElvain said. “We’d be fools if we thought police were the only thing that makes crimes go up or down.”

Population density, demographics and law enforcement resources are just a few of the main thrusts influencing the number of crimes committed in an area.

So far in 2015, McElvain said, the Vancouver Police Department is seeing crime go up. “We’ve seen increases really across the board,” he said.

Over the last year, the agency has been looking more at the where and when of crime, and at who commits it. The analysis gives them ideas of how police might disrupt criminal behaviors. Internal conversations about crime trends — what appears to be occurring and what they plan to do about it — are happening more often; they used to be once a month and now are every other week.

“While we’re a nice-size agency, it doesn’t mean we’re well-resourced,”said McElvain, who described much of the agency’s work as reactive.

When the department tries to be more proactive, resources get spread thin. Its priority is responding to calls for police service. The constant puzzle is figuring out the most efficient and effective way to use available resources.

Though it’s not perfect, the police department has a good relationship with the community, McElvain said. Eliminating crime is a pipe dream; what police want to help do is move crime as close as possible to its natural low, he said.

Unincorporated county

Though the Clark County Sheriff’s Office is one of the larger sheriff’s offices in Washington, the crime rate in the county is lower than the state’s average of 53.7 per 1,000 residents. The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, which is a similar size to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, had a higher crime rate, for a variety of reasons.

The number of crimes in Clark County decreased 2.9 percent from 2013 to 2014 (the per-resident rate fell 4 percent), but it’s difficult to say what led to the decline and whether it’s significant.

Meanwhile, the county had a clear uptick in financially motivated crimes, such as tax fraud and scams, in 2014, Sgt. Alex Schoening said. Such scams include people claiming to be law enforcement officers, demanding money for an arrest warrant.

“We don’t work that way,” Schoening said.

Police won’t ask somebody for money if they have an arrest warrant. If they’re trying to arrest someone, they go to their home — they don’t call them.

As the outreach sergeant, Schoening builds relationships with people to ensure there’s an open dialogue between residents and police, particularly for ethnic minorities and immigrants.

People may come from countries where police are seen as intrinsically corrupt, and bring those assumptions to Clark County, Schoening said.

“That’s not what American policing is about,” he said. “What we want to do is break down those barriers.”

One deputy, for instance, is from Russia and speaks on Russian radio about public safety, answering questions that people might otherwise be too shy to ask. Some people can be hesitant about reaching out to police or calling 911.

Schoening added that the vast majority of deputies live and work in Clark County.

“We all have a vested interested in making this a better place, a safer place,” he said.

Camas

Crime is down in Camas, but it isn’t because police are doing anything new and revolutionary, said Sgt. Scot Boyles, who’s worked at the Camas Police Department for 17 years. Throughout his career, the agency has emphasized service, and the unofficial department motto has been “no call too small.”

Camas police will help people when they get locked out of their car or when their dog gets loose. The agency has an agreement with Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency that emergency dispatchers send every call to them. Even if the call isn’t appropriate for law enforcement, they’ll try to find the right resource for the caller, Boyles said. He said that when people call 911 about an issue and get shut down, it discourages them from calling for help down the road — perhaps when they really need it.

“We pay attention to what is going on in the community and address problems sooner rather than later,” Boyles said. “Our hope really is to deter crime from happening in the future.”

During briefings, officers will talk about any issues or crime upticks that they’ve noticed; the city is small enough that they don’t need statistical analysis to keep track of trends, Boyles said.

Battle Ground

Battle Ground’s crime rate has the unusual designation of being unchanged; it stayed right at 38.9 crimes per 1,000 residents. There were more reported crimes in 2014 but also more people, according to population estimates, that made the rate level out.

“Our citizens are not afraid to call and report crimes or suspicious activity to the police while at the same time using social media to keep neighbors informed through an informal neighborhood watch,” said police Chief Bob Richardson in an email.

Richardson’s biggest concern is property crimes, as Washington has the highest reported property crime rate in the nation. Quality of life issues are also a top priority.

“I receive a lot of complaints regarding traffic safety issues, such as speeding vehicles, distracted drivers and persons driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” Richardson said.

Officers do a lot of traffic enforcement, he said, which is evident in the increased number of intoxicated driving arrests. That number went from 72 in 2013 to 90 in 2014.

Drug violations also went up, which Richardson attributes to detectives’ being more aggressive about targeting drug dealers, especially those marketing to children.

While the agency won’t add more officers in 2015 or 2016, it is looking at software that will help analyze crime patterns and officer workloads. It’s also considering security cameras in some parks.

Washougal

Emergency calls in Washougal keep going up, with the police department averaging 1,000 calls each month, said Chief Ron Mitchell. It’s getting harder for officers to respond to every call in a personal way — the way that residents are used to.

Washougal’s crime rate is significantly higher than neighboring Camas’. Why that is, Mitchell’s not sure. It could have something to do with demographics, or population density or any number of factors. The two cities’ police work together a lot, particularly the detectives.

The city’s community survey said that 76 percent of Washougal residents questioned were at least satisfied with the level of police services. Seventy-five percent of respondents were happy with the level of police visibility. When it comes to preventing crime, 61 percent of respondents said they were satisfied.

“We need a good relationship with citizens because we depend on them to be our eyes and ears,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell said that with a busier call load, the agency has become more reactive to crimes and emergencies in Washougal. He looks to use other resources, such as crime mapping, to help the agency keep the community safe.

In November, the majority of voters in Washougal rejected a levy that would have added a police officer and paid for other public safety enhancements. The city has 19 officers, including Mitchell, and one officer graduating from the police academy this week.

Ridgefield

Ridgefield is the fastest-growing city in Washington, but it’s still very much a small city. Based on the crimes tracked by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, crime has remained relatively flat in Ridgefield.

Even with all the newcomers, police Chief Carrie Greene said she’s noticed that residents tend to talk with each other.

“They take pride in their neighborhood and watch out for each other,” she said. Residents aren’t hesitant to call 911 when they see someone or some vehicle that doesn’t seem to belong.

One of the things she tries to emphasize with residents is to practice safety no matter where they are; if they lock their car doors in Portland, they should lock their doors in Ridgefield, regardless of how safe it feels. There are always people coming into the community whom the residents don’t know.

Greene encourages her officers to get out and be visible. One of their main focuses is traffic enforcement, particularly in areas where speed is a concern. Last year, the agency purchased a radar trailer that’s used around town to encourage drivers to slow down.

With the growth happening in Ridgefield, Greene anticipating adding more personnel, but it all depends on the budget. Right now, six police officers, a sergeant, a lieutenant and Greene provide 24/7 coverage.

La Center

The small, predominantly rural city of La Center had the lowest crime rate in Clark County, with just 61 crimes reported last year among its 3,050 people.

“We’re a bedroom community. The people we have here are responsible people who want to raise their families here,” Chief Marc Denney said.

He doesn’t want residents to look at the positive statistics and get complacent, though. Records clerk Alice Peters uses social media to remind people to practice simple crime prevention such as locking doors and calling 911 when there’s an emergency.

“Everyone in town and our officers know each other. … It makes it a little easier,” Denney said.

Portland police, deputies with the Multnomah County (Ore.) Sheriff’s Office, Clark County deputies and federal agents all call La Center home.

The La Center Police Department’s main focus and struggle is keeping 24/7 police coverage.

Its five full-time officers and a sergeant are two people fewer than the agency had in 2008, Denney said. While eight people on patrol may be overkill for the small city, Denney said it ensured an officer was always there to take a call. A police department could provide around-the-clock coverage with five people, but that doesn’t account for sick leave, he said.

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Columbian Social Services, Demographics, Faith