It should have been priority long ago

I had to chuckle when I read about the Everett police making car theft one of their priorities (“Cracking car thefts,” May 24). When my Jeep was stolen last year in downtown Everett, I had to wait a half-hour for an officer to show up while I watched another officer eat directly across the street where my vehicle was stolen. When I approached the officer, I was told that someone would be there shortly. Then he went back to eating.

Luckily, I found my own Jeep the next day, as the thief had used my cell phone to make calls. I tracked down the name of someone who knew where my Jeep had been abandoned by calling all the numbers from a call log provided by my carrier. The police had the same information, which I had turned into them, but my wife, Linda, and I did the detective work.

When a Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputy showed up to help me get my vehicle towed out of the mud-hole it was buried in, he went on about how short of manpower they are to make car theft a priority.

When I went to the Everett Police Department, I turned in the phone list to the officer at the front window. I was referred to a detective. The detective was too busy, and I have yet to hear from him or any other detective. It has been about a year now.

The mission statement at the Everett Police Department reads: “To proudly serve our community by providing quality police services that protect life and property while safeguarding personal rights.”

I am glad you guys are finally up to the task.

Jeff Custer

Everett

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