North County Outlook February 17, 2021

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utlook

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Vol. 14 No. 23 n

Salute To Police

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Februay 17, 2021 February 23, 2021 NORTH COUNTY OUTLOOK

5

Marysville Police Department

Crime rates continue to decline in Marysville By Nathan Whalen nathanr@northcountyoutlook.com

Crime rates in the city of Marysville continues a years-long decline. The overall crime rate is down 19 percent from 2019 and down 37 percent from 2016, Marysville Police Chief Erik Scairpon said, noting the efforts of public safety workers who came to work every day since the pandemic started. “It speaks to the levels of professionalism they have shown during this time,” Scairpon said. “I’m tremendously proud of the work they’ve done.” He added the past year has been a challenge to keep employees and their families healthy. COVID-19 has changed the way the police department operates. They have to make sure personal protective equipment is available and social distancing is maintained. The capacity of the jail has been lowered. “We’ve maintained a healthy jail population the entire time,” Scairpon said. The police department’s NITE team, which proactively works to resolve is-

sues or any crime surges specific to neighborhoods. Scairpon said officers look where crime is happening and redirects resources. The recently instituted Law Enforcement Embedded Social Worker program, which a social worker teams up with an officer to visit the homeless in the city. As of October 2020, the social worker program had 145 new clients, got chemical dependency review for 108 people, got 16 people into detox and helped secure housing for 79 people, Scairpon said adding the program is one of the things that he found attractive about the Marysville Police Department. He started serving as chief of police in September 2020. Marysville, Arlington and Lake Stevens police departments are partnering to hire two mental health professionals who will work with officers to respond to mental health calls. In 2020, the Marysville Police Department received 1,500 mental healthrelated calls for service, while Arlington received

900 mental health calls and Lake Stevens received 425 mental health calls. The three cities comprise nearly 124,000 residents and approximately 140 square miles. A grant from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs is helping fund the mental health professional program. “It’s a really nice blend to reduce use-of-force and incarcerations and improve outcomes,” Scairpon said. In addition to the department’s efforts to reduce crime and bring in mental health professionals, Scairpon highlighted several other goals for the coming year. Officer safety and wellness training will be a priority for 2021. He said the pandemic prompted the cancellation of training classes last year. Recruiting and retention will also be a priority. Scairpon said there are currently seven police va-

cancies and he like to see the department have waiting lists for every position. “For us it’s important to keep valuable employees.” The department’s outreach efforts will continue. A drive-through Hispanic outreach event took place in January and officers gave out 400 hundred bags of

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treats during Halloween. He noted the challenges the pandemic has created for outreach efforts. The department will work to modernize policies and accreditation to be standard with industrywide best practices. Having

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Salute To Police Pages 5-11

February 17, 2021 - February 23, 2021

MARYSVILLE • ARLINGTON • SMOKEY POINT • LAKEWOOD • TULALIP • QUIL CEDA VILLAGE

Snowstorm hits Snohomish County By Christopher Andersson christopher@northcountyoutlook.com

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER ANDERSSON

Marysville police officer Darryn Wiersma, left, talks with Larry Gardner, center, and Diane Gardner at Marysville’s "Coffee with a Cop" program on Feb. 12.

M'ville residents meet with police officers By Christopher Andersson christopher@northcountyoutlook.com Marysville residents had a chance to meet Police Chief Erik Scairpon and other police officers as the city held their "Coffee with a Cop" program on Feb. 12. The program allows casual conversations between

local police officers and community members, although it hasn’t been able to happen much in recent months because of COVID-19. “It’s been difficult during the pandemic to do these kinds of things, so we’re See POLICE on page 13

Marysville and Arlington received significant snowfall as cold weather and a storm blew through the area beginning on the evening of Feb. 12. Jay Downing, maintenance and operations manager for the city of Arlington, said that snowstorm was about average for a normal season. “It’s similar to what we’ve experienced in the past in terms of accumulation and we’ve been able to keep up with clearing it,” on the city’s snow routes, he said. Arlington and Marysville started the night of Feb. 12 with crews working long shifts into the next morning. “We did start 12-hour shifts for our crews,” said Downing. “I spoke to the crews and they had an early morning crew out,” said Connie

From left, Abel, Lizzy and Izella with their snowman in Marysville on Feb. 14. Mennie, communications administrator for the city of Marysville. “We have all three of our sanding trucks out,” she said on Feb. 13.

Some of the areas of the city were hit harder in Marysville, particularly the Sunnyside and Smokey Point regions, said Mennie. “Because of the topog-

PHOTO BY SUE STEVENSON

raphy of the city there were some areas that were hit much worse,” she said. Both Marysville and Ar-

See SNOW on page 2

Arlington voters approve move to RFA By Christopher Andersson christopher@northcountyoutlook.com

Megan Bleken drops off a ballot at the Arlington Library on Feb. 9.

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER ANDERSSON

The Arlington Fire Department will be annexed into North County Fire and EMS this summer after local voters overwhelmingly approved the measure that was on the Feb. 9 special election ballot. North County Fire and EMS currently covers areas north and west of Arlington and the city of Stanwood. As of the county’s Feb. 9 ballot count, 89.38 percent of voters were in favor of the annexation. Arlington Fire Department Fire Chief Dave Kraski said he was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. “Going in I was confident that we could get 60 to 65 percent of the vote,” he said. “To be honest, I was a bit overwhelmed. I don’t

recall any measure that we’ve passed as a fire department that has hit that high of a mark." North County Fire and EMS Fire Chief John Cermak said he was glad the Arlington community showed such strong support for the measure. “I thought it was an outstanding indicator of the support the Arlington Fire Department has,” he said. “I’m excited and proud to have the opportunity to serve the city of Arlington." The Arlington Fire Department is currently run by the city of Arlington but will join in with the North County Fire and EMS Regional Fire Authority. A Regional Fire Authority (RFA) is a

See RFA on page 15

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