Gig Harbor police chief gives crime report. Here’s how the city compares in Pierce County
Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey gave the annual crime report for 2021 at the City Council meeting Aug. 8.
Busey reported that crime rates in Washington state are down 3.7 percent, according to the recent Crime in Washington 2021 report by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Crime rates in Gig Harbor are down 3.4 percent, he told the council, and he explained why.
Why is crime down in Gig Harbor?
Chief Busey explained three reasons why crime rates are down in Gig Harbor.
He said it’s partly a result of the Blake decision, a 2021 Washington State Supreme Court decision that said the state’s felony drug possession law was unconstitutional.
Instead of jail time or citations, police hand those suspected of drug possession a referral card with information about getting help. Police are now prohibited from arresting someone the first two times they come in contact with that person for drug possession, Busey said.
“Simply from a numbers standpoint, crimes against society are down because the drug possession rates have decreased with 2021 regulations,” Busey said.
He said his officers are contacting people daily with fentanyl who they’re not arresting.
The ACLU of Washington supports a public health approach to substance use disorders, said Mark Cooke, policy director for the Campaign for Smart Justice.
He said they support referrals to services instead of arrests and that treating substance use disorders as a crime has not been effective. Putting someone in jail and starting their criminal record makes it harder for them to find housing or work. Connecting a person with services that can address the underlying causes of substance use is a better long-term solution, he said.
When asked how many people given those referrals by police are choosing to get help, Cooke said the ACLU doesn’t have that data. He said several European countries, including Portugal, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, have treated drug possession as a public health issue instead of a crime, and that these countries have lower rates of substance use disorder and overdose deaths than the U.S.
Busey said another reason crime rates are down is the police reform laws of 2021. He said those state laws prohibited police from almost any use of force without probable cause that a crime had been committed. Busey said criminals learned this and that officers had suspects walk out of stores they had just shoplifted from tell them, “I know you can’t touch me.”
Police were also only allowed to chase vehicles when they had probable cause that specific violent crimes were committed, Busey said.
“To be clear, police officers can once again use reasonable force to detain someone based upon reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed,” Busey told The Gateway via email. “It was not this way from July 1, 2021 through the legislative session in 2022 when that authority was restored and that is what led to a partial inability to deter crime.”
Enoka Herat, a lawyer who follows police practices for the ACLU of Washington, told The Gateway last year that police were misinterpreting the new laws.
“There is nothing in the new law that prevents officers from detaining people based on reasonable suspicion, and this kind of misinformation is really unfortunate,” she said.
“‘Reasonable suspicion’ is a pretty low bar,” Herat argued. “When they have enough evidence to make an arrest, then they can use physical force.”
Lastly, Busey said crime rates have been affected by booking restrictions at jails due to COVID-19, as officials try to limit the size of jail populations and the spread of the virus. Police have been prohibited from booking suspects into jail. They were only allowed to book violent offenders, domestic violence suspects, and those arrested for their second DUI, he said.
“We have people we are pulling out of stolen cars, for instance, where we send the suspect down the road and recover the car,” Busey said.
They are not taking shoplifters or drug offenders to jail at the moment, he said, while COVID-19 restrictions are still in place.
Why are motor vehicle thefts up?
There was a 70.4 percent increase in motor vehicle offenses in Gig Harbor.
“Motor vehicle theft is going crazy,” Busey said at the council meeting.
Busey said he fears that in 2022 the number of motor vehicle theft cases will be in the triple digits. Only 46 motor vehicle thefts were reported in Gig Harbor in 2021.
“We’re currently taking up to three cars a day this year,” Busey said.
He argued that motor vehicle thefts have increased due to a combination of officers’ inability to pursue stolen vehicles and their inability to book motor vehicle theft suspects into jail due to COVID booking restrictions.
What are police doing about shoplifting?
The 2021 report showed $1.5 million in goods were stolen, roughly triple the value of property stolen the prior year. Busey told The Gateway criminals quickly figured out when officers could not arrest them, following the 2021 police reform laws.
To address property theft, Gig Harbor police implemented a business check program last spring, Busey told The Gateway.
“It has been moderately successful,” Busey said.
This system allows an employee to pick up the phone, dial 911 and say they would like a business check.
“Employees are not divulging what’s going on, they’re not identifying any persons, they’re not violating their corporate policies, but that’s a signal to the officer that something is amiss and something is going on at that store,” Busey said.
Busey said this has been effective in deterring shoplifts.
“... obvious shoplifting suspects will abandon cart loads full of merchandise and leave the businesses when they see us arrive,” Busey told The Gateway.
When it comes to crimes against property, Busey said theft remains the problem. There was an 11 percent increase in larceny and theft offenses.
How does Gig Harbor compare to the rest of Pierce County?
Gig Harbor is just above the state average for crime rates in Washington state. The city of 11,490 had 831 offenses in 2021, according to the state report.
Even though the Pierce County crime rate per thousand showed Gig Harbor almost 15 percent higher than Bonney Lake and Edgewood, Busey said he considered Gig Harbor’s crime rate to be like theirs, below the state average, because of the daily influx of people that increases Gig Harbor’s population during the day.
Gig Harbor is also above the state average for case clearance rates, Busey said. They solved 25.5 percent of cases. The state average is 18.9 percent.
The Gig Harbor crime report is available at cityofgigharbor.net.
The Crime in Washington 2021 report is available at waspc.memberclicks.net.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Washington state law regarding use of force changed in 2022.
This story was originally published August 15, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
