SNOHOMISH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE- Citizen’s Academy

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office will be offering its 2019 Citizen’s Academy beginning April 10.

The Citizens Academy is a great way to learn about the numerous functions that Sheriff’s Office employees perform. The Academy will meet once a week on Wednesday evenings (6-9:30pm) with two weekend field trips.

Patrol deputies, detectives and corrections deputies will conduct classroom training and hands-on participation.

Academy sessions will cover subjects such as K-9 enforcement, drugs and gangs, crime scene technology, search and rescue, special weapons and tactics (SWAT), gun range, 911 and dispatch, major crime investigations, patrol procedures and equipment, jail cell extraction, traffic operations, vehicle collision investigations, child abuse and crimes against children, jail operations.

You need to fill out an application to attend. A background check will be conducted on all applicants. The deadline to apply is March 20, 2019.

For more information and a link to the application, go to,



Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office:

https://snohomishcountywa.gov/2761/Citizens-Academy

SNOHOMISH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE- Community Outreach

The latest issue of the Sheriff’s Office’s crime prevention newsletter, “Partners in Crime Prevention,” is now available. This issue covers the ways the Sheriff’s Office connects and collaborates with county citizens.

To see this latest issue, go to,



Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office:

https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/6140 

HIT AND RUNS- License Plate Numbers are Important

We hear about hit and run incidents every day on the news and in social media. Sometimes they involve a fender bender, if you are “lucky.” But just as often the collision involves serious injury or even death. Law enforcement agencies, both local and the Washington State Patrol, are always motivated to apprehend someone who causes a collision and leaves the scene of the crash.

According to Washington State Patrol Trooper Heather Axtman, in 2017, District 7 troopers (that includes Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom and Island Counties) investigated 538 hit and run collisions. However, with the lack of information on fleeing vehicles, the troopers could only solve 28% of those hit and run collisions. That is only 151 hit and run collisions solved.

Information that often is reported can be fragmented at best. Sometimes the information that witnesses provide is vague, like “a blue four door sedan.” But Trooper Axtman emphasizes a key piece of information that can be very helpful in an investigation is the license plate number. With that number, a law enforcement agency can look up who owns the vehicle and where they live. They can also determine if the vehicle has been stolen.

Hit and run crashes can happen quickly with the offending vehicle leaving the area in short order making it difficult for witnesses to see what happened. The State Patrol and local law enforcement agencies appreciate any information that witnesses can provide. A license number, however, is the gold standard in helping them complete a successful hit and run investigation.  



Washington State Patrol:

http://www.wsp.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/011918_WSP-Seeks-Additional-Witnesses-To-Hit-Run-Collision.pdf

MAIL THEFT- What to do if You Find Mail on the Ground

With mail theft a continuing problem, you might see piles of mail along your road.


If you find a pile of abandoned mail you may be motivated to report it and/or get it to its rightful destination. Two actions you can do to report the abandoned mail include:

·         Report to the Sheriff’s Office. You can use the non-emergency line, 425-407-3999, especially if you did not see who dropped the mail.

·         Notify your local post office of the abandoned mail.

Also, report any suspicious activity around your mailboxes to 911 when you see it. A timely report may give a deputy in the area the chance to investigate. Give as complete of a description of any individuals involved with the activity and any associated vehicles including the license number.





U.S. Postal Inspection Service:

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/investigations/MailFraud/fraudschemes/mailtheft/ReportMailTheft.aspx

MAIL THEFT- How to Prevent Your Mail from Being Stolen

Mail theft remains a problem in our community. Mail thieves look for documents that they can use for identity theft such as checks, bank statements with account numbers, IRS documents with Social Security Numbers, etc. With tax season in full swing, correspondence between the IRS and homeowners make for appealing targets for mail thieves.



Mail thieves take the easiest opportunities to steal mail. Usually this means taking from unlocked mail boxes that they find along the road or street. They will sift through the mail, take what they want, then dump it on the side of the road.



There are actions that you can take to prevent your mail from being stolen:

•         Use a locked mail box to receive your mail. The box should be made with heavy gauge steel and small mail slots. Some locking units come in four, six, eight or more compartments so that neighbors can get together to protect their mail. These units often have a secure outgoing mail box. You can also find single locking mail boxes.

•          Leave outgoing mail at the post office or a blue postal service mail box. With the typical residential mail box, leaving the flag up when you have outgoing mail is a signal to a mail thief that there is mail to take. This is especially true for checks that you send out or mail with sensitive information.

•          Don’t leave mail overnight whether it is incoming or outgoing. Pick up your mail as soon as you can.

•          Reduce the number of bills that you receive and bills that you pay via the mail by having vendors email invoices to you and use your bank’s bill pay service to pay your bills. Bill pay is a secure system to pay your bills.        

• When you order your checks from your bank or credit union, pick them up at a local branch. A box full of blank checks is a bonanza for a mail thief.

•          When you are on a trip, have a trusted neighbor or friend pick up your mail while you are gone. You can also have your local post office hold your mail while you are away. And you can easily set this up online at https://holdmail.usps.com/holdmail/. 

•          Sign up for Informed Delivery from the Postal Service. Informed Delivery tells you what mail is on the way to your mailbox. In a daily email, the Postal Service can show you a greyscale image of the exterior of any letter sized mail. This allows you to be alerted to any important mail that may have sensitive account or other information that is on the way to your mailbox. With Informed Delivery you can also track packages that will be delivered by your letter carrier.

US Postal Service:

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/investigations/MailFraud/fraudschemes/mailtheft/TipThieves.aspx



USPS Informed Delivery:

https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action