Community Government Police & Fire
Crime report: Thefts up significantly in Gig Harbor
Police Chief Kelly Busey told the Gig Harbor City Council on Monday that theft is Gig Harbor’s biggest criminal issue.
The city’s top law enforcement officer presented his 2021 crime report at Monday’s meeting. He said retail theft was up about 11% in 2021, and vehicle theft rose a whopping 70%.
Drugs are also a problem, primarily because of the state Supreme Court’s 2021 Blake decision. In that case, the court ruled Washington state’s drug possession law unconstitutional.
Officers encounter people with drugs – mostly fentanyl – every day, Busey said. “And all we can do is to give them a card that encourages them to get treatment,” he said.
Reform legislation and pursuits
Police reform legislation passed in 2021 poses another challenge for law enforcement. The legislation restricts any use of force, “even something as simple as me taking a shoplifter by the arm and guiding them back into the store,” when making an arrest, Busey said.
Further, officers are not allowed to pursue fleeing vehicles except when they have developed probable cause that a crime has been committed (instead of the lower legal standard of reasonable suspicion) and the threat of harm. Busey hopes that that law will be changed in the 2023 legislative session.
Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey
Finally, continuing COVID restrictions at the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma limit officers’ ability to incarcerate suspects. Due to the restrictions, Busey said, shoplifters and drug offenders can’t be sent to jail.
Gig Harbor saw 54 assaults in 2021, down from 64 in 2020. There were nine robberies last year, up from five in 2020. Suspects were arrested in all nine robberies, in what police refer to as a “cleared” case.
Gig Harbor is doing a good job of clearing cases, much better than the state average, Busey said.
City rejects sole bid for Public Works Operations Center
The council rejected the only bid it received to build a proposed Public Works Operations Center. Public Works Director Jeff Langhelm said the bid was for nearly $4.9 million, while the city had budgeted $2.7 million for construction of the building.
The city will look to expand its advertising options for its next request for bids. It may delay pursuing the project until a more favorable bidding climate exists, perhaps this fall or early 2023, Langhelm said.
Langhelm described the building design as “very bare bones,” but said he will meet with a project consultant to look for possible modifications.
City Administrator Katrina Knutson noted that she had met with public works staff to assure them that the city still plans to go ahead with the building.