It’s been nearly eight months since the Snoqualmie Police Department began covering North Bend. In that time, North Bend officers have made more than 730 traffic stops, arrested 225 subjects on various charges, and issued 16 DUI citations. They’ve received zero official complaints, too.
“In our business, we’re not used to that,” Snoqualmie Police Chief Steve McCulley told the North Bend City Council Nov. 4.
McCulley was updating the council on his department’s work in the city since March 8, when North Bend’s contract with the King County Sheriff’s Department ended. Among the highlights were the department’s efforts in community-oriented policing, which McCulley said is much more than just nice to have.
“It’s a proven formula for success,” he said. “COP is engaging with your citizens as an integral part of your success… what that means is we engage the citizens. We gain their trust, we gain their confidence, and we get them to call the police, because when they call, they know we’re going to come and they’re going to be treated professionally.”
Another focus of the department in North Bend has been on the local homeless population. McCulley reported that officers have removed, or trespassed, 75 people from other people’s properties, and made 34 contacts with people on the city’s ban on camping on public property. Not all of those contacts were necessarily with homeless people.
Police have been working with the Valley Renewal Center, organizers of the Snoqualmie Valley Winter Shelter now in its third year of operation. McCulley was impressed with the shelter’s organization, and cooperation, and said he encouraged his officers to stop in at the shelter for a meal if they could. Officers also provide those who ask about getting assistance with information and resources to help them.
McCulley took issue with a local resource that has been available to transients, though, the showers at the Si View Pool.
Si View allows the public to use its shower facilities, for a small fee and at limited times during the day, said Si View Director Travis Stombaugh.
“It’s not a significant amount,” he added, estimating that the public shower fees generated about $50 in revenue per year for the facility. Few people use the service, he said, and “We don’t make the judgement whether they’re homeless or not.”
McCulley told the council that he met with Si View staff, “and I pointed out to them that this was not acceptable from my standpoint.”
No specific change to Si View’s policies and practices has been made, or even requested yet, but Stombaugh said “Our number-one concern is safety.”
Eighth officer
Also part of McCulley’s report to the council was an update on the city’s staffing levels. Currently, North Bend has seven full-time officers on staff, for round-the-clock coverage by at least one officer. Assuming that voters approved the city’s public safety sales tax measure on the general election ballot, McCulley said, the department could hire another officer by the end of November. That officer would undergo several months of training, but would be ready for patrol duties by March, and the one-year mark of the city’s five-year police contract.
