Sheriff Seeks Help Of Citizens To Curb Escalating Crime Rate Valley Is Headed For A Bleak Future If Present Trend Persists, Goldman Says

Residents and businesses must help the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department slow a rapidly increasing crime rate in the Spokane Valley, Sheriff John Goldman told a group of businessmen Thursday.

Sheriff’s deputies have seen a double-digit increase in violent crime during each of the past three years, Goldman said. Three murders, two bombings and armed bank robberies and two shootings have occurred in the Valley during the past 3-1/2 months.

Overall calls for service have increased about 30 percent in recent years.

“This is an urban area akin to a medium-sized city with all of the problems,” Goldman said.

Dick Behm, who runs a creamery, has seen the increase in crime. Behm, one of about two dozen who attended the meeting, remembered a time when people did not stay on the streets until the early morning hours.

“Now it appears with the advent of adult businesses in the area, we’re seeing night life and crime increase,” Behm said.

The influx of residents and late-night activities has taxed his department’s resources, Goldman said.

The department covers 1,740 square miles and 210,000 people - including 100,000 in the Valley - with 182 deputies. That translates into fewer than 1.2 deputies per 1,000 residents, Goldman said.

National law enforcement groups recommend at least 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents. The city of Spokane has about 280 officers cover the city’s 45 square miles and 192,000 or about 1.5 officers per 1,000.

The sheriff acknowledged that demands on city police officers are still greater, but said his deputies are closing the gap.

“We’re headed into a future that is very bleak in terms of crime and public safety,” Goldman said.

He tossed out a handful of solutions, ranging from the possible to the uncertain. They included hiring more deputies, putting computers in patrol cars and establishing a Valley criminal justice center.

A grant recently received to hire 13 new deputies and preliminary planning to buy the computers make the first two options look promising, Goldman said.

But the justice center is little more than an idea, and at best, a ways off. Considerable planning to secure, among other things, a location and money for such a project need to be done, Goldman said.

There are ways businesses and residents can protect themselves until some of those solutions become reality.

Six Valley SCOPE stations are now open, Goldman said, before issuing a challenge to the group to become more involved in them. SCOPE volunteers perform a variety of activities, including patrolling neighborhoods, taking fingerprints from minor crime scenes and logging graffiti.

Goldman also encouraged the group to evaluate the surroundings at their businesses and homes. Make sure both are well lit and visible to neighbors.

“Not everything can be solved at the neighborhood level, but we can make a big difference,” Goldman said.

, DataTimes