Eyes on the Street:
Crime Trends Effecting Life in Bellingham
(cont'd) There is movement again in the car and then the licorice tub is tossed into the back seat.
The glint of what appears to be a syringe can be seen through the windows of the Buick. Minutes later, a man outside of the car wearing gold chains and a glow stick around his neck steps forward to the now rolled down passenger window and passes a wad of bills to an outstretched hand.
Activities such as this happen every night in front of open businesses downtown. Working at Pita Pit for more than three years, Brian Hall, a tall, thin young man with dreadlocks and piercings in his lip and eyebrow, says that he sees a lot more of the activity that happens downtown than most people and is not pleased with police efforts.
“I don’t call the police because they’re never here when you want them to be,” Hall said, taking a drag from his cigarette outside the Pita Pit.
Hall described one night in particular when a deranged woman entered the restaurant and tried to steal a customer’s backpack.
“This crack head lady came in and these people had a backpack on the table,” Hall said. “Crack head went over and put it on, she was high and started to try to fight the other people. I had to put her in a headlock and take her outside.”
Someone in the restaurant called the police during the commotion, and
officers arrived after Hall dealt with the incident and said that they
couldn’t do anything further, Hall said. He feels that police are
looking in the wrong places to keep control in the downtown area and are
not doing what they should be doing. He also doubts what effect police
have downtown.
“There’s nothing they can do,” Hall said. “There’s always going to be drugs and it’s never going to stop. Almost every day someone tries to shoot up in our bathroom.”
Hall said he has found a couple dozen used syringes and broken towel dispensers in the Pita Pit bathroom during his time working there, and he throws someone out at least once a week.
“I’m like the bouncer here,” he said. “It’s tuned up my stern attitude big time. You have to be serious. If you take it like a joke, people are going to take advantage of you.”
THE EFFORT TO GAIN CONTROL
Ten years ago, the typical shift for a patrol officer in the Bellingham Police Department was a lot different than it is today, Young said.
“By three in the morning it was just like someone folded up the streets and went home, and there was nobody around anywhere,” he said. “Now, it never stops. We get all sorts of different kinds of calls 24/7.”
Young says a lot of the downtown criminal activity is due to alcohol and drug abuse. Through one of his crime prevention programs, Young looks at what violations, contacts, warnings and citations businesses have had prior to liquor license renewal and if they are excessive than he may suggest that a license not be renewed.
“Alcohol is the number one drug of choice in America right now, and it is a legal drug,” Young said. “If left unchecked, it really can get out of control.”
Two years ago, in an effort to reduce drunken behavior in the streets, Young suggested a 6 percent alcohol content limit to convenience stores in the central business district. All of the stores agreed to the terms and stopped selling alcohol above 6 percent. —>
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