Rep. Larsen honors Snohomish County fight against car theft

Published 12:10 am Friday, February 19, 2010

EVERETT — The Snohomish County Auto Theft Task Force was recognized Wednesday by Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., during a short ceremony at the Robert J. Drewel Building.

“A lot has been accomplished in our county to decrease auto theft and put bad guys behind bars,” Larsen said.

The congressman plans to talk about the collaborative law enforcement effort in Snohomish County next week on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. Record snowfall postponed the speech last week.

The task force was founded in 2008 with a Washington state grant. Since then, the eight-member team has met with great success, officials said, and the model has been replicated around the state.

The group helped reduce the number of car thefts in the county in 2009 by 27 percent, far ahead of other areas of the state, Snohomish County sheriff’s Lt. Brent Speyer said. He’s the group’s commander.

In 2009, the task force recovered 82 cars worth nearly $1.5 million and busted up 26 chop shops and 34 theft rings, Speyer said.

To date, the group has consisted of detectives from Monroe, Lynnwood, Marysville and the sheriff’s office, as well as both a prosecutor and a legal assistant dedicated to the effort.

Sheriff John Lovick on Wednesday announced that Tulalip police officer Jim Williams will become the ninth task-force member. Williams’ participation will be fully funded by the Tulalip Tribes.

“This is just another example of the partnerships we are trying to build with all law enforcement agencies in Snohomish County to attack the problem of auto theft and the crimes associated with auto theft,” Speyer said.

The idea for the task force sprang from a bill Lovick introduced when he served in the Legislature.

Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.