A citywide hiring freeze has spurred Bellingham police to call on the City Council and the mayor, asking them to replenish the number of officers on duty. However, it appears Mayor Pike is not as receptive as the Police Guild hopes.
The amount of reported crimes went down 4 percent last year, Pike said. Because the Police Department has 2.5 percent fewer deputies, the overall workload for city police is actually lower now than it was a year ago, he said.
Pike also said the city does have money in reserves, but it would not be prudent for the city to go ahead and spend all of it.
“No, we don’t have the resources to just, on an ad hoc basis, add costs to the city,” Pike said. “There is a process that has been in play for a long time, which the guild is a part of. This is, in my view, an end-run to that process: to get special treatment, which I don’t think is appropriate.”
My opinion? I’m impressed that Mayor Pike sees the reality of the situation. Crime is down. Why hire more police? There’s plenty of police agencies in Whatcom County. Let’s not forget, the Sheriff’s Office and the Border Patrol; along with Everson, Ferndale, Sumas, and Blaine Police Departments.
If it ain’t broke, then don’t try to fix it . . .
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
Bellingham police have been citing and releasing some people arrested on misdemeanor, and booking and then immediately releasing others. An officer might take some people to jail to have their photos and fingerprints taken, then have the jail release them.
My opinion? I’ll state the obvious: the criminal justice system in Whatcom County has reached peaked capacity. Jails are overcrowded. Trial calendars are filled. Trust me, I know.
The easy solution? Hire an additional judge, build additional courts, and build another jail. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen any time soon. Put simply, The County lacks resources to build jails and/or hire more court staff. This is not due to sloppy spending on the part of the County. The Whatcom Superior Court has already eliminated numerous services due to the decrease in revenues. That said, the likelihood of obtaining more revenue to hire another judge and/or construct another jail is slim to none.
The harder solution – and probably the more criticized; yet WORKABLE solution – is for the Prosecutor’s Office to negotiate more cases to a favorable resolution. They’re a trial-happy bunch, and unnecessarily so. Not every case must be brought to trial. Justice happens when all parties leave the courtroom satisfied with the result.
At any rate, overcrowded jails are symptomatic of larger problems. The County judiciary is burning the candlestick at both ends. We’re seeing a decrease in judicial revenues and an increase in inmates. The state of affairs certainly is alarming. Why now, and why all of the sudden?
A tough nut to crack.
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
Unfortunately, heroin use is increasing in Whatcom County.
The evidence? Increased demand for outpatient rehab has more than doubled, needle exchanges increased 36 percent for spring/summer compared to the same time last year at the county Needle Exchange Program, the number of jail inmates going through heroin withdrawals has increased 7 to 10 percent, arrests for heroin use and sale have increased, and more people are entering rehab.
The theories behind the increase? The drug doesn’t have to be injected anymore, it’s fairly easy to get, addicts are getting younger and, in a recession, it’s cheaper than drugs that offer similar highs.
My opinion? The article appears spot-on. I’ve certainly seen a spike in heroin charges filed against defendants. I only hope that abusers get help as soon as possible. The Whatcom County Drug Task Force is VERY experienced at investigating/busting drug rings.
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member face Drug Offenses or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
Interesting. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals just released a Search and Seizure outline.
This outline is AMMUNITION for pretrial motion practice. If you, a potential defendant, were held in custody by police, arrested, questioned, and/or your property (house & car) were searched; then your attorney should argue pretrial motions to suppress. Pretrial motion practice protects your individual rights while providing the primary defense for your case. Any attorney worth their salt should argue pretrial motions on your behalf.
The federal public defenders in Oregon drafted the outline. They appear before the U.S Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. This court carries appellate over many federal district courts along the west coast; Washington included.
The outline was updated from two years ago. Among the many new cases, the big news from the Supreme Court is the decision in Arizona v. Gant overruling prior decisions that had divorced the scope of vehicle searches incident to arrest from the rationale of officer safety. The Ninth Circuit provided important guidance on computer searches in the en banc decision in Comprehensive Drug Testing.
Two district court cases from last summer provide a reminder of the practical importance of motion practice for our clients: Judge Jones and Judge Haggerty granted motions to suppress in Freeman and Izguerra-Robles, litigated by AFPDs Ellen Pitcher and Nancy Bergeson, respectively.
Again, great bedtime reading. A “must have” for attorneys arguing pretrial motions.
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime involving Search & Seizure. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
Chalk it up to the age of Facebook. Blogging lawyers and judges have landed in trouble with legal ethics regulators and judges, while one blogging lawyer ended up as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit.
My opinion? I’ve blogged for some time now. Early on, I discovered that my ethical duties under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC’s) clearly prohibit me from discussing certain things. This is ESPECIALLY true in matters involving judges and clients.
For example, RPC 8.2 prohibits lawyers from making making statements against judges that ” . . . the lawyer knows is false or with reckless disregard as to its truth concerning the qualifications, integrity, or record of the judge.” Indeed, the rule goes on to say that lawyers take an active role in squelching “bad talk” about judges: ” Lawyers . . . should support and continue traditional efforts to defend judges and courts from unjust criticism.”
Additionally, RPC 1.6 — which addresses client confidences/secrets — holds that a lawyer SHALL NOT reveal confidences or secrets relating to the representation of a client unless the client consents after consultation.
Lawyers, be careful. Treat clients and judges like gold. The internet doesn’t exist in a vacuum . . .
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
This past Labor Day Weekend, the Washington State Patrol made 296 arrests for suspicion of DUI. That’s slightly higher than the 292 arrests WSP made over the same weekend in 2008. In a recent report released by the WSP, there were 44 calls from concerned motorists which led to 20 arrests for suspicion of DUI. The increased arrests — and inevitable prosecutions — are directly attributed to Washington State Patrol’s (WSP) implementation of the X52 anti-DUI campaign.
X52 stands for extra patrols 52 weeks per year. The goal of the X52 program is to reduce speeding and DUI-related traffic fatalities and serious injuries on Washington’s roads.
Under the program, Washington Traffic Safety Commission released $450,000 worth of grants to local law enforcement agencies to help them provide additional impaired driving and speed patrols every week of the year. These sustained enforcement patrols specifically target speed and DUI offenders, as well as look for other traffic violations. The program is being administered statewide through a network of community traffic safety task forces.
The X52 program also includes initiatives designed to let the public know that these extra patrols are happening in Washington every week. $450,000 is budgeted for paid radio advertising and alternative messaging. Earned media efforts will be spearheaded by community traffic safety task forces.
My opinion? Clearly, the WSP is aggressively campaigning the X52 program. I foresee even greater DUI patrol this holiday season.
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
In State v. McCormick, the WA Supreme Court held the plain language of Washington’s SSOSA statute does not require proof that a violation was willful before a SSOSA sentence may be revoked.
David McCormick was convicted of first degree rape of a child for raping his 11-year-old granddaughter. He was sentenced to over 10 years in prison, but given a special sex offender sentencing alternative (SSOSA) that suspended the prison term provided he abide by certain restrictions, including that he “not frequent areas where minor children are known to congregate”
Unfortunately, McCormick’s community corrections officer was tipped off that McCormick had been regularly visiting a St. Vincent De Paul Food Bank located in a building used as part of an elementary school. This was not McCormick’s first violation of the SSOSA terms, and the trial court revoked the sentencing alternative.
McCormick argued that the State should have been required to prove that his violation was willful, that the state and federal constitutional guarantees of due process require proof that such a violation was willful before revoking a suspended sentence, and that there was insufficient evidence.
However, the Court held that the plain language of the SSOSA statutes do not require proof that a violation was willful before a sentence may be revoked, that post-conviction due process requirements do not require proof of willfulness, and that there was sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s decision. Justice Fairhurst wrote the majority opinion and was joined by seven other justices.
Justice Sanders dissented, asserting that “[t]he State should at least be constitutionally required to prove McCormick reasonably should have known the food bank was an area where minors are known to congregate.”
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
Bellingham’s finest created a five-person “Anti-Crime Team (ACT) dedicated to warrant arrests, stakeouts, sting operations, and plainclothes detective work. The team’s goal is to reduce — and follow up on — the number of 911 calls the police department receives. “Our purpose is basically to do what patrol doesn’t have time to do,” Sgt. Keith Johnson said. “If we can spend some quality time and solve problems rather than deal with them every time they flare up, then the community benefits and patrol benefits.”
The Anti-Crime Team (ACT) appears to be a proactive sub-unit of the Bellingham Police Department. In short, ACT provides additional investigations/policing of our neighborhoods. These activities include serving bench warrants, police interviews, stakeouts, etc. In other words, ACT is involved in community caretaking.
Know this, however: “community caretaking” is, in reality, a legal term; and establishes an exception to rule that officers MUST have a warrant to arrest citizens. ACT’s proactive approach could create a risk of abuse to the community caretaking exception of the warrant requirement. Under WA law, and in light of the risk of abuse, courts must be cautious in applying the community caretaking exception to the warrant requirement.
n order to avoid abuse of the exception, community caretaking searches/seizures must be strictly divorced from criminal investigations. Also, the community caretaking function exception may not be used as a pretext for a criminal investigation.
Given ACT’s proactive approach to neighborhood policing as a “community caretaking” function, we could see an increase in unlawful arrests.
The solution? Be aware of your Constitutional rights when approached/questioned by police officers. Be cooperative. Avoid making unnecessary statements. Ask for an attorney.
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
An article on msn.com discusses Domestic Violence when the perpetrator is female and the victim is male.
According to the article, a recent study showed that 64 percent of the men who called a DV hotline were told that they “only help women,” and only half were referred to programs for male perpetrators. Overall, only 8 percent of the men who called hotlines classified them as “very helpful,” whereas 69 percent found them to be “not at all helpful.” Worse, when an abused man called the police, the police were more likely to arrest him than to arrest his abusive female partner.
My opinion?
I’ve handled hundreds of domestic violence (DV) cases. Truthfully, female-on-male DV doesn’t happen often. Indeed, I can count ON ONE HAND cases I’ve worked where a female defendant abused her male boyfriend/husband. Either it rarely happens, or doesn’t get reported. Probably both.
Still, it’s shameful that female-on-male DV isn’t taken as seriously. Societal norms probably have much to do with it (men are physically stronger, they should have the wherewithal to “handle” an angry/violent female, etc.).
You should know this, however: BY WASHINGTON STATUTE, POLICE MUST ARREST SOMEONE IF THEY ARE SUMMONED VIA 911 PHONE CALL. There’s no getting around it. No arguing with police. They will arrive, separate you two, investigate the scene, gather evidence, interview witnesses, determine who the primary aggressor is, and arrest them.
In addition, a DV perpetrator can be charged with Interfering With a 911 Call – a gross misdemeanor – if the perpetrator attempts to stop the victim from calling the police.
Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.
Attorney at Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer
119 North Commercial St.
Suite #1420
Bellingham, WA 98225
117 North 1st Street
Suite #27
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Phone: (360) 746-2642
Fax: (360) 746-2949
