Yesterday, Snohomish County officials along with officials
from the cities of Marysville and Arlington announced expansion of the
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office’s Office of Neighborhoods outreach program to
the homeless to north Snohomish County.
In the program, teams of deputies/police officers and social
workers contact homeless individuals to offer help with getting off drug
addiction and with mental health problems. The effort originally started in the
south county area in 2015. According to a Sheriff’s Office press release, since
2015, the Office of Neighborhoods has:
·
Arranged for 222 chemical dependency assessments
for individuals.
·
Secured 265 beds in detox centers.
·
Secured 224 beds in addiction treatment centers.
·
Secured housing for more than 165 individuals.
Last year, the Sheriff’s Office expanded the unit to east
Snohomish County in cooperation with the City of Monroe.
In a related development, the Snohomish County Council
passed an ordinance that provides new tools to law enforcement and the
prosecutor’s office to crack down on derelict properties. Since 2013, the
Snohomish Regional Drug and Gang Task Force has been collaborating with public
safety agencies, code enforcement, health and human services and fire
inspectors to clean up nuisance properties that can attract drug use and crime.
During its efforts, the county found that the county code made
enforcement on nuisance properties lengthy and cumbersome. The new ordinance sets
procedures for forcing nuisance property owners to clean up their properties
and defines what makes up a nuisance property.
A chronic nuisance property is
·
Any property where a court has determined that
there is probable cause that illegal possession, manufacture or delivery of a
controlled substance exists at the property two or more times in a twelve-month
period.
·
Any abandoned property where nuisance activity
exists.
·
A residential property where “…four or more
nuisance activities exist or have occurred on the property during any 90-day period,
or eight or more nuisance activities exist or have occurred on the property
during any 365-day period.”
A nuisance activity can include criminal mischief,
disorderly conduct, gang related activity, indecent exposure and prostitution offenses,
animal cruelty, precursor drug-related offenses, unlawful inhalation of toxic
fumes, violation of an off-limits order, firearm and dangerous weapon offenses
or possession of stolen property offenses.
The two initiatives demonstrate Snohomish County’s commitment
to maintaining a good quality of life for its citizens. Homeless camps and
nuisance houses/buildings both lower quality of life and can spread health
problems and crime. The expansion of the Office of Neighborhoods’ efforts and
the new chronic nuisance property enforcement ordinance will not eliminate homeless
camps or nuisance properties overnight. They do try to tackle those problems in
coordinated ways that help those willing to help themselves and if necessary incarcerate
those who insist on breaking the law.
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office News Release:
Chronic Nuisance Property Enforcement and Abatement
Ordinance:
The Herald:
