Clyde Hill News: Big picture on police activity
What’s going on at Chinook Middle School?
Multiple police agencies responded to two extraordinary local incidents last week:
In Yarrow Point, “two men breached properties from the water via kayaks. The burglars wore wetsuits and camo balaclavas.” (link)
At the 76 gas station in Clyde Hill, three people in a stolen car surrendered to police after an hour-long stand-off and were then “transported to a hospital for a possible drug overdose and for observation.” (link, link)
This week’s newsletter looks at the typical, regular baseline of law enforcement around the Clyde Hill area from a resident’s point of view, and what residents might expect as they look ahead.
Because topics like public safety, police, and crime very easily turn into “click bait” and “outrage farming,” I want to offer a clear statement ahead of the regular disclaimer:
The goal of this newsletter is making sure that residents have easy access to information about their local government with relevant context. Similar to when this newsletter covered the local impact of state housing bills (link), I want to be clear that my intent here is to report not endorse, advocate, or incite.
Also, a warm welcome to the many new subscribers… and if someone forwarded you this newsletter, subscribing is free and easy!
Disclaimer: while I am a councilmember on the Clyde Hill City Council, I write this newsletter in my capacity as an individual resident. Any opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the position of the City. City information and references here are from public sources. I welcome email responses — and if the topic is about City business I will respond from my City email account.
What’s normal?
Every month at Clyde Hill’s city council meeting, Chief of Police Kyle Kolling provides an update to the community. You can read the most recent public report for April here (link).1 From reading these reports regularly for a few years, I think this report is pretty typical.
Training and certification
Law enforcement is a highly-regulated profession by any standard.
Every report begins with an update on the training, certification, and re-certification of the department’s officers. Proficiency and skills with firearms — “Multiple officers qualified during range training” — is just one aspect.
You can see the extent of ongoing training and preparation in every report… from the March council report (link), for example, an audit from the Washington State Patrol of “record keeping of warrants, protection orders, criminal history checks, etc.” The February report (link) offers details about training in officer liability, Advance Roadside Impairment Detection Enforcement (ARIDE), and first aid and CPR/AED use.
State accreditation from the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs (WASPC) is a measure of the quality of a department. Clyde Hill PD received this accreditation under Chief Kolling’s leadership. This is, candidly, a big deal that residents should keep in mind.
Activity Report
The easy part is sharing numbers on a report. The hard part is what the numbers might mean.
Residents asked me about this topic, so I’m sharing the public report with the context that I can offer. The numbers here are pretty typical of the numbers in past reports… and actually making sense of the numbers to understand them is a broader and more complex discussion.
Assessing safety using only Clyde Hill’s numbers misses local context. For example, the City of Bellevue continues to grow — and to face the challenges that come with growth. On its website (link) a few days ago, the City of Bellevue posted about a kidnapping about a mile and a half from Clyde Hill… how significant is this incident as a concern for Clyde Hill residents?
Reader beware
Before looking at “the big picture” report, I want to offer a caveat about how easy it is to misunderstand the data. For example, it’s easy to think that Clyde Hill has had several burglaries:
Reading the details about the February 16th report of a burglary indicates something else:
Report of subjects inside of a property after hours captured on a live feed. Was later discovered that subjects were supposed to be on property and there was no crime. Report for information/documentation purposes only. (link)
Also, because the police records manager left the department earlier this year, some of the reporting in the public packets is incomplete. The Chief apologized for that in a council report, and a more complete update is underway.
Big Picture Numbers
Crimes Against Persons
For reference, under “Other,” “APS” refers to Adult Protective Services and “CPS” refers to Child Protective Services.
Property Crimes
Arrests, Traffic Activity, and Other
Public Services
This item was a healthy reminder that Clyde Hill PD and local agencies, especially Medina PD and Bellevue Fire, cooperate very closely, and that Clyde Hill PD is responsible for school zone safety.
Behind the numbers
I’m sharing some additional details because every number in the report reflects a police officer engaging and taking on risk. This page from the February report shows the variety of what an officer might encounter on a call:
a person threatening self-harm, resulting in transportation to a hospital
welfare check for someone at a bus stop who (it turns out) had a warrant out for their arrest
a report of a crime in progress that turned out to be completely false.
What to expect ahead
State laws concerning “less lethal” weapons and limiting pursuits (link) are likely to result in increased equipment and training expenses. License plate readers (reported on here, link) are already in the budget.
Clyde Hill Police are also responsible for the safety of students and teachers at the schools located in Clyde Hill. Here are some of the incidents so far this year from Chinook Middle School:
Residents can expect new city ordinances concerning “Duties to Report Abuse or Neglect of a Minor” and “Civil Protection Orders/Procedures” as part of June’s city council meeting, according to an Administrator’s Weekly Report from May (link).
Thanks for reading! Please forward and share with your friends and neighbors, and if you are not already getting this newsletter, subscribing is both easy and free.
Dean Hachamovitch
The public report for May will be available at the June 13th council meeting.