Everett, Wash.
Published: Sunday, November 25, 2007

Mukilteo may restart its block watches

The 2008 budget includes money for an officer to help neighbors organize.

By Scott Pesznecker
Herald Writer

 MUKILTEO -- Steve Baird wanted to help fight crime in his neighborhood after vandals broke into a neighbor's back yard and damaged a truck.

But when he asked the Mukilteo Police Department how he could help, he was told to go volunteer in Lynnwood.

The Mukilteo Police Department scrapped its volunteer program during a financial crunch in the early 1990s. The program was never reinstated.

However, the city's proposed $31.3 million 2008 budget includes funding to hire three new officers for the police department -- including a public safety officer to bring back volunteer police programs.

"I think it's important that those folks who want to participate in making their community a safer place be offered some type of avenue to do that," said Baird, 42, who lives on the southern edge of Mukilteo.

If the proposed 2008 budget is approved, the city would spend roughly $120,000 to hire a daytime patrol officer, $90,000 to hire a nighttime patrol officer and $90,000 for the safety officer.

The Mukilteo City Council is scheduled to vote whether to adopt the budget at its 6 p.m. Monday meeting.

The public safety officer position would likely be filled by a current Mukilteo police officer, city Police Chief Mike Murphy said. With a job so closely tied to the community, whoever fills the position must know the ins and outs of Mukilteo, he said.

Before starting a block watch program, the department would first hire a new officer to replace whoever is moved to the public safety officer position. That would take at least six months, Murphy said. A volunteer police force would come later.

"(A block watch program) is something we've wanted, but the needs of getting enough people on the street have come first," Murphy said. "We don't want somebody doing this and not have enough people to come for the calls."

Burglaries became an issue in Mukilteo last year, when the city was one of several in Snohomish County that experienced a surge in criminal activity. Mukilteo police data shows the city's overall crime rate has dropped this year.

The best way to fight crime is for people to get to know their neighbors, Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said.

He believes bringing back volunteer police programs will help fight crime at a grass-roots level.

"I think it's good to not only get the community involved, but it also helps the crime rate overall," Marine said. "People are looking out for the community."

When Baird moved to Mukilteo in 2000, he and his wife started holding block-party barbecues to get to know their neighbors. They still exchange neighborhood listings of phone numbers and e-mail addresses so they can contact each other when things seem out of place.

Other neighborhoods would probably do the same thing if someone at the police department would motive them, Baird said.

"It doesn't matter how you compare to other neighborhoods," he said. "If crime is up, crime is up. If there's something you can do about it for the community, why wouldn't you want to do that?"

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA