Work remains to rebuild trust between police and public

Published 1:30 am Saturday, January 6, 2024

Police and public

Work remains to rebuild trust

Susanna Johnson won a close election as Snohomish County Sheriff. Her celebration party was hosted by Unidos of Snohomish County on Dec. 17th at Homage. Juan Peralez, president of Snohomish County Unidos endorsed Susanna Johnson’s candidacy for sheriff because of her pledge to build trust between the community and local law enforcement.

Peralez represents the BIPOC community that is often targeted by police and pulled over for minor infractions like a cracked windshield or expired tabs. The stops can quickly escalate and result in the tragic loss of life. This is the kind of trust that needs to be built; people want the police there to protect them, not to intimidate them.

Johnson’s predecessor did not prioritize trust in law enforcement. Under his watch, the county sheriff’s office did not complete re-accreditation, which is no small thing.

Sheriff Johnson has the commitment, desire and skill to regain accreditation, and stop the erosion of public trust.

Johnson’s election is a good step, but to support this work and protect our community, we need our state legislators to meet the challenge head on and call out racists in law enforcement. All indications are that acts of domestic terrorism by racists in our institutions and communities is going to get worse in 2024.

Washingtonians need a state commission to investigate, monitor and track domestic terrorists. Counties and municipalities need resources to hire staff and the tools to arrest perpetrators of violence, bring them to trial, prosecute and jail them. When we don’t call out these crimes and bring the haters to justice, they are emboldened.

Sheriff Johnson will have her hands full in the coming years. Our Legislature needs to prioritize the threat of violence by white supremacists statewide. This could go a long way to build trust of law enforcement in our communities.

Cathy Ferbrache

Bothell