DRUGS IN SNOHOMISH COUNTY- Oxycontin and Heroin

Drugs in Snohomish County have been a problem for many years, as they have been in the rest of the country. In the late 1990's and early 2000's methamphetamine was a big problem in the county. Local manufacturers found it easy to purchase or steal cold medicines with pseudoephedrine and other chemicals to make the meth in their back yards, kitchens, apartments or where-ever. A state law controlling cold medicines with pseudoephedrine pretty much reduced the small labs. While meth is still available, it is not the large problem that it was.

Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the use of prescription drugs, especially oxycontin, and heroin. This article published in today's The Herald gives good insight on the current drug problem in the county:

http://heraldnet.com/article/20110123/NEWS01/701239855/-1/News

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE- Burglars Stole to Pay for Traffic Ticket

Recently, The Herald recently published a report about two burglars who broke into a house. After receiving good leads, the Mountlake Terrace police were able to apprehend the burglars and recover much of the stolen property. The burglars' motivation? To pay off a traffic ticket. (http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110114/NEWS01/701149805/1131/NEWS08)

Comment: Another element of this story, not mentioned in the article, would be good descriptions of the stolen property. Property crime detectives frequently run across property that they are sure is stolen, but without a report, or good description, they cannot return it to the rightful owner. You can help yourself and help police by participating in Operation ID.

Mark appropriate items of your property with your driver's licence number. Take pictures of your property. For electronic items, take down serial numbers Keep this information in a safe place (your own safe or file cabinet and a safe deposit box. Then if your property is stolen, police will have an easier time returning it to you.

For more information about Operation ID go to:

http://sheriff.snoco.org/Documents/Operation%20ID.pdf

TAX SEASON- Prime Time for Mail Thieves

With tax season here we receive documents from employers, banks, investment firms etc. with our personal information.

ID thieves will troll for this information at your mailbox. Take action to prevent your personal information from being stolen:

• Make a list of forms that you expect from the financial institutions that you use. Check them off as you receive them to make sure you have received all of your forms.
• If you will be away, have your mail held at the Post Office or have a trusted friend or neighbor pick up you mail every day.
• See if you can have your tax forms delivered to you electronically.
• Consider having a locking mailbox installed for your house or your neighborhood. You can find locking mailboxes for your home at major hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowes. For your neighborhood contact your local Post Office.

Article from KOMO 4 News:

http://www.komonews.com/news/consumer/113608819.html

AUTUMN MEADOWS- Slashed Tires

On Sunday morning, January 16, 2011, a homeowner near the corner of 43rd Ave SE and 126th St SE discovered that both rear tires had been slashed on one of the vehicles in their driveway.

HILLTOP/FIR RIDGE- Package Theft

On Saturday morning, January 15th, a Neighborhood Watch Coordinator found two empty cardboard boxes on the shoulder in the vicinity of 10th Pl W and 198th Pl SW behind her house. One box had been an UPS delivery, the other, a FedEx. After running the tracking numbers, the coordinator discovered that both packageds had been delivered on Friday, January 14th.

The address on one box was in the vicinity of the 1300 block of 195th ST SW, a Canyon Ridge home. She took the empty box to the recipient. That home owner had been gone for only ½ hour that day from 3 to 3:30 P.M.

The other address was in the 200 block of 195th PL SW, which is a home in a new development. After four delivery tries of that empty box, she never met the owner but met a neighbor who said he actually saw a “little green car” drive up and take the box off the door step on Friday. This clearly was a missed opportunity to let the Sheriff's Office know about suspicious activity.

Note: While Christmas is a major time of the year for theft of delivered packages, this can happen any time of the year. Thieves may follow trucks as they make their deliveries or they may just troll neighborhoods for delivered packages on door steps.

As I noted in my posting for December 18, 2010, some things you can do to prevent becoming a victim include:


• Have a trusted stay at home neighbor hold your package for you until you come home

• When at home keep a watch for suspicious vehicles following UPS, FEDEX or Postal Service trucks. If you see a suspicious vehicle, call 911 and report the license number, vehicle description, and direction of travel.

UPS suggests:

• Have the shipper require a signature on delivery

• Have the package sent to your work where someone will be present to accept it.