Wakeboarder’s run-in with kid’s kayak has Pierce County dad asking for more enforcement
A father of two young children gave an emotional testimony to the Pierce County Council recently as he asked for more service from the Sheriff’s Department west of the Narrows.
Chris Teitzel, who has kids ages 7 and 9, lives just outside the city limits of Gig Harbor.
For years he’s dealt with a now 22-year-old neighbor causing disruptions like simple noise violations, underage drinking, trespassing, vandalism, driving under the influence, and most recently boating under the influence, according to Teitzel.
While throwing a Fourth of July party this year with about 40 family members and friends, Teitzel watched his kids and three others kayak just off their waterfront home near Wollochet Bay.
All five children kayaking were ages 5 to 9, Teitzel told the Gateway.
Teitzel saw the 22-year-old driving a ski boat, pulling a wakeboarder behind it, he said.
He watched the boat come within 5 feet of the kayaks just before the wakeboarder cut over and slapped the bow of one of the kayaks with their hand.
“If one of the kids had fallen in the water or the wakeboarder lost his footing, it could have been a much different incident,” Teitzel told the Gateway.
Teitzel immediately pulled the kids out of the water and called 911.
No one was injured, according to Teitzel.
After no one from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department showed up or called back with updates, Teitzel said he was disappointed.
“The day of the incident, we did have deputies respond,” Darren Moss, a spokesperson for the department, told the Gateway. “Deputies were patrolling in the Sound via boat.”
The deputies looked for the boat and were unable to locate it, Moss said.
The Teitzels were frustrated they did not get a call back from a deputy and that no one showed up to their property — two things they said they requested while talking to dispatch.
Moss said deputies patrolling the water are not going to park the boat, get in their car and drive over to contact the person making a complaint.
“I cannot write you a ticket If I don’t witness the infraction,” Moss said. “We have to witness it.”
If deputies saw the boat, they would have tried to contact the driver and ask them about the complaint, he said.
“If they did hit the kayak, and it was an accident, and they left ... that would be a hit-and-run,” Moss said. “We could take enforcement on that.”
The Teitzels called the department the following day for an update.
Deputies told the Teitzels the marine unit stopped about half-a-mile up the shore from the Teitzels because water levels wouldn’t allow their boat to come all the way into the bay, according to the Teitzels.
The family provided deputies the registration number of the boat and who it belonged to in order for deputies to look out for it during future boating patrols.
The Teitzels also provided a video of the man operating the boat at a slow speed with two young women sitting on top of the wake tower, which doesn’t support the claim of reckless behavior, Moss said.
Teitzel said this is a pattern with the Sheriff’s Department when he’s called about past disruptions. This time he decided to speak at the July 11 Pierce County Council meeting.
“Each time we have felt unsafe and called 911 to get assistance and each time we’ve left disappointed with the response,” Teitzel told the council at the meeting. “As residents of unincorporated Pierce County out in Gig Harbor, we rely on the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department to protect us. And yet, when we need them the most they’ve been largely absent.”
Last year, frustrated, Teitzel said he visited the sheriff’s desk to speak to a deputy.
“I was told to my face unless there is violence, injury, or death, there would likely not be anything done,” Teitzel said, crying, during the meeting. “You can likely understand how that makes me feel as a parent.”
Teitzel said the deputy also told him that if multiple people do not call within a 30-minute period, deputies are unlikely to come out to the location.
After the boating incident, Teitzel said multiple people from the party called, as well as other boaters in the area.
“The whole night went by and not a word from the Sheriff’s Department,” Teitzel said at the meeting.
“Deputies saw numerous vessels in the area and none of them contacted them regarding a reckless boat,” Moss said. “They stayed in the area for about an hour before they cleared that call.”
This incident is seen as a neighbor complaint, which typically needs to be resolved between neighbors and not by the Sheriff’s Department, Moss said.
Teitzel has tried to talk with the 22-year-old’s father about his son’s actions, but things still aren’t changing, Teitzel told the Gateway.
While standing on the Teitzel’s back patio, you can see the Tacoma Yacht Club. Many summer days you will see children in the water for Kids Camp, where they’re learning how to operate sailboats.
Teitzel said the 22-year-old is banned from the club, because he’s climbed onto boats parked there in the past. He’s also banned from local restaurants for “dining and ditching,” Teitzel said.
They’ve seen the 22-year-old throw parties in the backyard with underage drinking, after which people drive home, passing the Teitzel’s place.
“What we’re dealing with now is on a multiple levels, a failure of the system that allows for it to continue to happen,” Teitzel told the Gateway.
When asked what residents with such frustrations should do, Moss said continue to call and make complaints.
“That doesn’t mean we’re going to have a resolution every single time,” Moss said.
Priority calls also play a role in deputy response.
“If I have 30 other calls to go to on the board, a neighbor complaint is most likely going to fall after an emergency in priority ranking,” Moss said.
A fire, felony assault, armed robbery, or burglary in progress are all examples of when deputies would respond immediately, Moss said.
Pierce County Council Member Robyn Denson told the Gateway Teitzel has been connected with Lt. Wilder with the Sheriff’s Department Peninsula Detachment.
“We’ve been engaging with the County Council, along with the Sheriff’s Department, and I’ve been working with them to try to figure out what is the best way to get more enforcement out here,” Teitzel told the Gateway. “It’s going to be a mixture of continued pressure, but also they need to hire. Not only bring new people in but keep the law enforcement officers that are here from leaving. It’s not something that they can snap their fingers and do, but we’re working with them and hopefully they’ll be able to work with us.”
At this time, the report has not been assigned for follow up, because deputies don’t have enough information to charge anyone with reckless driving or DUI, Moss said.
“It’s very important that citizens report all dangerous situations and concerns to the Sheriff’s Department,” Denson told the Gateway. “If people feel they are not receiving an adequate response, they can always contact me as their County Council representative.”
Chances of getting additional deputies west of the Narrows
Denson said she has requested more deputies for the Gig Harbor, Fox Island, and Key Peninsula area.
It would need to be a joint decision between the council and the sheriff to add additional deputies.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department’s general fund budget for law enforcement is $94,893,610, Moss said.
$3,980,260 is budgeted for the Peninsula Detachment, which covers six day shift deputies, six swing shift deputies, five graveyard deputies, two patrol sergeants, one investigator and one lieutenant.
The lower staffing in the Peninsula Detachment reflects the lower call volume out on the Peninsula, Moss said.
The department as a whole has about 300 deputies, Moss said.
The problem is not a matter of funding, Denson and Moss both said.
“The Sheriff’s Department (just like the grand majority of law enforcement entities nationally) is having difficulty hiring and filling the positions for which it already has funding,” according to Denson. “Not only are positions funded, but they are well funded. County Council recently increased wages substantially to bring deputy pay in better alignment with other agencies with hopes of improving our ability to compete for good law enforcement officers to serve our communities. Council also authorized recruitment and retention bonuses.”
“We do have an issue with hiring and staffing,” Moss said. “Our Central Patrol unit (South Hill, Spanaway, Parkland, and Graham) is where our highest call volume is and they’re short staffed. We really don’t have anybody in our current staff to pull from to place out in the Peninsula.”
If the council and the department wanted to add additional deputies west of the Narrows, it couldn’t happen immediately.
You’d need one for the Monday through Thursday shift, and another for the Thursday through Sunday shift to have an extra deputy patrolling west of the Narrows every day, Moss said.
They would each get training, equipment, vacation time and time off that the department would also need to plan to have covered, and they’d need to make sure if someone calls in sick another deputy would be able to take their place, Moss said.
“Given the staffing situation right now, we’re not going to be able to put more people out there immediately,” Moss said. “It’s a work in progress. We are always working with the council to try to address the needs.”
How does this compare across the state?
“For more than a dozen years, Washington has had the fewest law enforcement officers per capita, ranking 51st in the nation,” According to a Jan. 18 press release from Washington Association Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC). “Today, our State has 500 fewer officers than it did a year ago. That affects prevention and response time to 9-1-1 calls and increases stress on our remaining police officers. De-escalation, proactive policing, and supervision require resources to ‘team up and slow down.’”
Pierce County is one of the lowest in the state, Moss said.
“We’ve always been stagnant for years on increasing bodies, and we always would like more,” Moss said.
