New mini sheriff’s station opens south of Everett

EVERETT — A new sheriff’s office “substation” opened Tuesday in Mariner Square, in an effort to increase police presence just south of Everett.

“Things like this don’t happen without partnerships,” Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney said, addressing the media. “There is such a need for the community out here.”

The new mini police station, located on the corner of 128th Street SW and 4th Avenue W, will allow for an “increase in law enforcement presence” for the west side of the I-5 corridor, sheriff’s spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe said. It’s the beat where Fortney served as a patrol sergeant for years.

Fortney is in the home stretch of a tight and contentious reelection campaign for sheriff, facing Susanna Johnson, a deputy chief for the Bothell Police Department who formerly served 29 years in the sheriff’s office.

The space is a conference room with four work stations and a break area, which can fit several deputies and social workers, Fortney said. The Office of Neighborhoods, a new sheriff’s office unit consisting of deputies and social workers, will work in the new station.

John Weiss, the owner of the building, gave the sheriff permission to use the spare storage space as an office.

Weiss is a member of the Mariner Square Business Association, a group of business owners in the neighborhood. The new station is flanked by a cell phone store called “The Phone Guys,” a Kid’s Country Learning Center, the Great American Casino and a Subway sandwich shop. The aroma of baked bread permeated the walls.

“I could have found 10 reasons to say no, but there wasn’t a good one,” Fortney said. “We’re probably not able to do this all over, all of the time, but partnering with the businesses here and meeting with them every month — how could you say no to something like that?”

Shortly after Fortney took office 3½ years ago, the sheriff met with 12 business owners in south county to discuss crime trends. They were not happy.

“For 2½ hours, we walked down this property and they were pointing out things to me they were not happy with, ongoing crime problems,” Fortney said. “That initial conversation was difficult. But if you’re going to run for office, get elected, and shy away from those conversations, what the heck are you doing?”

Since the initial meeting, Fortney meets with the association every month at the Patty’s Egg Nest on 4th Avenue, also next door to the new substation.

Setting up the Mariners Square station took about six months of bureaucratic and constructive work, Fortney said.

Snohomish County Council member Sam Low, county executive director Ken Klein and county executive policy officer Stephanie Wright were among the attendees at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday.

The new location is the second substation in the county. The other is in east county, at the Monroe fairgrounds.

Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.