March 29, 2011 in City

Pot arrests disproportionately high in Pullman

Jody Lawrence-Turner The Spokesman-Review

Tags:marijuana possessionPullmanPullman Police DepartmentSpokaneWashington State University

Arrests for marijuana possession per 1,000 people in Pullman were nearly triple those of Spokane last year.

And the arrest rate could increase this year in the college town; Pullman police have made only 10 fewer arrests than Washington’s second-largest city so far, and are on the way to making nearly 60 percent more arrests than in 2010, based on the current quarterly rate.

Three of Washington State University’s starting basketball players – Reggie Moore, Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto – have been cited for pot possession during the past three months, and in the wake of those highly publicized events, some critics say that Pullman police are targeting student athletes.

But it’s more a matter of the college town’s demographics, authorities say.

“Not as an excuse, but as an explanation, look at the makeup of Pullman,” said Pullman police Commander Chris Tennant. “The vast majority of the population is between 18 and 23, and that age group uses recreational drugs more than other populations.”

He added, “The problem is, the athletes are the ones that make the news; no one cares about the ones in marketing who get busted.”

WSU athletic director Bill Moos also doesn’t buy the theory that police are targeting WSU athletes.

“I can’t say that they are” targeting athletes, Moos said. “I know we need to do some of our own work within our department in terms of code of conduct.”

Last year, Pullman police arrested 104 people for misdemeanor marijuana possession; the city’s population is about 29,800. In Spokane, a city of 208,916 people, 221 were arrested on the same charge.

According to the 2000 census, 50 percent of Pullman’s population is 18-24 years old, while only 11 percent of Spokane’s fell into that age group, despite the presence of a handful of colleges and universities. That level of age detail isn’t yet available from the most recent census.

Tennant said police have used a “broken windows theory” in approaching enforcement for the last decade: “If you deal with the little things, you don’t have to deal with the big things. We deal with alcohol. We deal with marijuana possession. We deal with parties, noise and party trash. By doing that, we deal with fewer assaults, rape and damage to property.”

Derrick Skaug, a political science major who serves on the WSU student body association, said he’s not surprised at the number of arrests.

“In Pullman, I would say that typically the students are more of the ones who commit the crimes,” he said. “The student population tends to take more part in the nightlife.”

But Skaug does think police are focusing too much time on the wrong crime: “I think the biggest priority for the Pullman police should be preventing DUIs. That is more of a threat to public safety than MIPs (minors in possession of alcohol) or marijuana possession.”

Pullman police spend hardly any time on the WSU campus, Tennant said. But they have regular patrols on College Hill, the off-campus location of Greek row.

“We patrol that heavily. On busy weekends, we’re on foot patrol, too. By making a presence known we can prevent fights and deal with intoxication,” Tennant said. “Most of the crime in Pullman is committed on College Hill, but again, the vast majority of the population lives on College Hill.”

22 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

oneanddone on March 29 at 4:21 a.m.
wtf?
misjustice on March 29 at 6:29 a.m.
hollyrhor, post above ^ is SPAM….
Spammers are getting craftier in their posts, they seemingly comment on an article and then slip what they are promoting…very annoying. Too bad they can’t be blocked…or banned forever.
As to the article, well duh! Of course the police are targeting students. The downside for cops is that kids don’t own much, so when a student is busted with a little weed, the cops can’t steal their house, seize their bank account, seize their children, and steal any other assets they may have; like what happens with older adults.
That is why cops like to bust pot smokers; they can take all of their stuff…
Seriously, you can murder someone and retain all of your assets; but get caught with weed and the cops take everything. Where’s the “justice” in that?????
mikeln on March 29 at 6:43 a.m.
Stupid in, stupid out, the new american way of life. Justice for all, what a joke. Got money? Get justice. Poor? Go to jail.
polistra on March 29 at 6:52 a.m.
Highly unlikely. Police in college towns understand where their paycheck comes from, and they’re usually reluctant to bother athletes, NOT inclined to target athletes above the other students.
greenlibertarian on March 29 at 6:57 a.m.
Damn Californians.
Gary Jenkins, Chief of Police (509) 334-0802 e-mail
Gary was appointed Chief of Police in July 2010. Prior to coming to Pullman, Gary worked for the Claremont Police Department (CA) for nearly 33 years, attaining the rank of Captain. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from the University of Redlands (CA) and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University. He is a graduate of the California Peace Officer Standards and Training Command College and the FBI National Academy.
Orphan on March 29 at 7:54 a.m.
MIkein Yeah if your rich and have money/things the cops take it away. Equal justice my butt. They need to legalize pot for recreational use and inforce the DUI laws.
I have an idea get busted & convicted for pot or alcohol and your student loans immediatly become due. That will cut out the stupid ones, onlky the dumb or unlucky ones get caught anyway.
lewis8457 on March 29 at 7:58 a.m.
Easy pickings for the cops. They don’t have to work too hard to find a kid smoking a joint.
missJ hit it. someone can carry chopped up body parts in their trunk and keep their assets after arrested. but grow some weed to help combat cancer growth and you loose everything you worked for your whole life, when the cops kick your door in.
but if your a cop you can smoke weed on the job and that is OK.
hawken on March 29 at 8:43 a.m.
Looks like Pullman has an unusually high number of people who are dependent upon Medical Marijuana. I’m wondering if it’s something in the local water?
bumblebeetuna on March 29 at 8:51 a.m.
I would want to get high too if I lived in desolate Pullman. Cops would be better off stopping the drunken mayhem that permeates the area.
detroitdude on March 29 at 8:55 a.m.
LOL the article said absolutely nothing about medical marijuana, it reads more like a bunch of cops with way too much time on their hands. Cops should be there to serve and protect, not staking out college kids for a little weed. These cops seriously have nothing better to do with their time? I’ve heard more than one police officer in my life tell me straight up busting people for pot really isn’t worth it if they don’t have enough for it to be a felony, most cops don’t want to deal with all the paper work for a few joints, and I don’t blame that logic.
mikewsu on March 29 at 9:05 a.m.
Pullman PD is a money making enterprise. #1 goal make money. #2 goal protect and serve.
Find me a study that links marijuana use and violence or rape.. Tenet’s “By doing that, we deal with fewer assaults, rape and damage to property.””
vanman on March 29 at 9:20 a.m.
I really have a problem with the “sensationalism” type of headline to the story (as is typical for the SR)….if you really read the contents of the article, you will find that there nothing to support a “disprortionate” charge — in fact, as the story shows “According to the 2000 census, 50 percent of Pullman’s population is 18-24 years old, while only 11 percent of Spokane’s fell into that age group”. Since that is the most likely pot-use age group, you could surmise that the use of pot in Pullman might be FIVE times higher than in Spokane.
Therefore, the Pullman arrest rate being about 3 times higher than in Spokane is not at all surprising and is certainly not “disprortionately high”. Does this paper not use any editorial oversight to ensure accuracy, or is the goal just to sell papers?
Mr_Incredible on March 29 at 10:12 a.m.
Vanman. Before you give a lesson on statistics, you might want to analyze the entire picture. Bringing up the fact that population in Pullman is disproportionately young is only relevant if we look at the people arrested in Spokane and find those people to be 19-23 year olds.
If, for instance, 50% of the people arrested for marijuana in Spokane are outside the age group you want to label as offenders, then the arrest rate would be disproportionately high for young people.
Under any statistical analysis though, arresting college kids for small quantities of Marijuana potentially damaging the rest of their lives for a substance that a majority of college kids have experimented with is Asinine as a criminal justice policy. But what do you expect from a Police Department that correlates Marijuana with Rape and Violent crime. That is a statement that is truly “sensational” and has no bearing in fact in truth, but because it is said by those that have a vested interested in keeping drugs illegal, it’s allowed in as fact.
Ryan Pitts on March 29 at 10:19 a.m.
@vanman - “Since that is the most likely pot-use age group, you could surmise that the use of pot in Pullman might be FIVE times higher than in Spokane.”
No, because 11 percent of Spokane’s population is still a larger number than 50 percent of Pullman’s population. Even if you assume that ALL pot arrests are targeting 18- to 24-year-old, which of course isn’t the case, the arrest rate in Pullman is still almost 1.5 times that of Spokane.
Pullman population, 18-24: 14,900
Pot arrests: 104
Pot arrests per 1,000 18- to 24-year-olds: .14
Spokane population, 18-24: 22,981
Pot arrests: 221
Pot arrests per 1,000 18- to 24-year-olds: .10
Again, there’s absolutely no reason to think police stop making possession arrests just because a pot user turns 25. But even if you make the assumptions you’re making, Pullman’s arrest rate is still significantly higher than Spokane’s.
empyrius on March 29 at 10:20 a.m.
C’mon you Pullman coppers!!!!!
Instead of doing curls with that Budweiser after work (as if you are ever “off”-duty right …), let me give you a puff of some real Bud!
Where are all the long-haired cops man?????????
Sublime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIEvHCyb4Ms
Scoutster on March 29 at 10:41 a.m.
What is the financial incentive for busting folks with pot in terms of federal drug money and collection of fines for the police dept?
This could be the real driver of their zealousness.
Just askin’.
Byrdie714 on March 29 at 11:33 a.m.
Who cares?
nivragm on March 29 at 12:46 p.m.
Is anyone really surprised? My personal experience having a WSU student leads me to believe that arrests across the board are pretty up there. It’s all about the money…money for the city…the court…the attorneys…it’s a well oiled machine. I have not had this experience with my other two college students who attend out of state.
Thoreau on March 29 at 1:00 p.m.
“Tennant said police have used a “broken windows theory” in approaching enforcement for the last decade: “If you deal with the little things, you don’t have to deal with the big things. We deal with alcohol. We deal with marijuana possession. We deal with parties, noise and party trash. By doing that, we deal with fewer assaults, rape and damage to property.”
Here’s that backwards logic again. No causality here.
Are we to assume that a pot user will likely become a rapist?
Cops should be required to take a few college courses themselves. Logic, for starters. Then maybe statistics, or even ethics. There are cops out there who make the logical, ethical decision “at the scene”, and write no ticket, clasp no cuffs, and waste no time nor money, by handling the horrendous possession charge on their own, with just a few words.
DemoDriver on March 29 at 2:49 p.m.
Associating marijuana use with rape?
Ever think that maybe- just maybe- if it were legal, supply chains would not be dominated by a certain element that should be targeted?
Then again, that may damage US/Mexico relations if we ever got serious enough about the cartels to crimp the flow of cash they bring to their corrupt politicians’ tables.
Mike1950 on March 29 at 4:10 p.m.
Wow can you imagine that! A town who’s population base is made up of a majority of people 18 - 23 and there is more pot arrests there per 1,000 than in Spokane. How is that comparison significant?
dallison on March 29 at 5:05 p.m.
It is stil illegal. Pullman police are just doing their jobs and good for them!
There is a reason it’s called dope.