Despite Island County Sheriff Mark Brown’s assertions to the contrary, South Whidbey residents insist the drug problem on the South End has reached “epidemic” proportions.
During a public meeting at the high school in Langley last week, more than 70 people said they believe heroin usage in the community is out of control, and it’s leading to property crimes.
“Don’t kid yourself that it’s not an epidemic,” said Carol Coble, owner of Carol’s Coffee Barn in Bayview.
“The epidemic is heroin and it’s on Whidbey Island.”
Her coffee stand was broken into three times, and she claims drug dealing is so common in the area that it occurs in view of the public.
“You can’t go grocery shopping at the Goose without seeing a drug deal happen,” she said, a comment that earned her applause from the audience.
Byron MacDonald, owner of Country Girl Coffee in Freeland, said he agrees.
“Carol is right,” he said. “It’s ridiculously bad.
“I could give you a list of 100 people [who are heroin users] on this island,” he added.
The two business owners and other concerned South Whidbey residents gathered at the school’s commons Tuesday evening for a meeting about increased drug use and its link to residential and commercial burglaries.
Organized by Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, the gathering was also attended by county drug treatment specialists and elected officials, including Brown.
The sheriff acknowledged that property crime on the South End is on the rise, but added it’s by no means skyrocketing and is consistent with the rest of the county.
“I don’t know if it’s in epidemic proportions, but it is happening,” he said.
“To you it is epidemic, and we get that.”
Residential burglary has been an ongoing problem, but several businesses — Freeland Cafe, Neil’s Clover Patch Cafe and Cozy’s Roadhouse, to name a few — have been hit in recent months and then Wells Fargo in Clinton was robbed earlier this month.
Several meeting attendees expressed frustration that the problems continue to persist, and questioned the effectiveness of police tactics, especially when it comes to the visible drug dealing.
Park at one of the dealing hotspots and an officer won’t have to wait long for something to happen, audience members claimed.
Brown said he blames a lack of resources as one obstacle; the department only has one detective assigned to drug prevention for the entire county.
In a subsequent interview, Brown said that, even if he had one of the two South Whidbey officers in plain clothes and in an unmarked vehicle, they’d still be required to respond to emergency calls.
“I don’t want that officer responding in an old beat-up pickup truck to high-speed chase,” Brown said.
Sgt. Laura Price, one of two South Whidbey deputies who attended last week’s meeting, talked about burglary prevention strategies, such as photographing items in the home.
Price also talked about challenges associated with solving property crime.
“I think one of the biggest misconceptions is information versus evidence,” Price said.
Tips are helpful and welcome, but they aren’t the same as being caught red-handed by police. Also, thieves have wised up and usually wear gloves, meaning fingerprints are hard or impossible to find.
The same can’t be said for shoe prints, however.
“We catch a lot of people because they like a certain kind of shoes,” she said.
Public vigilance and remembering details is helpful in capturing burglars, Price said. Don’t just report a suspicious car was red, get its make, model and number and descriptions of its occupants.
