MARYSVILLE – The cleanup of downtown with the new Spray Park and the presence of police on bicycles, along with the persistence of officers in driving out the homeless, has led to a 30 percent drop in crime there.
Marysville Police Chief Rick Smith announced that to the City Council Sept. 2, referring to a mid-year report.
“It took a phenomenal city effort to stem the tide” of crime that some said was “out of control,” Smith said.
He added it took a team effort of officers, code enforcement, parks workers and more. The Spray Park brings a different clientele and has brought about less-aggressive panhandling and less drug activity.
He said school resource officers came up with the idea for the bike patrol. He credited them with getting rid of homeless camps under the bridges.
“They stayed on top of it on a weekly basis,” Smith said, adding the overall crime rate in town in down 7.35 percent, although the report wasn’t made available to The Globe by press time.
Looking to the future, Smith said the sheriff’s office, Lake Stevens, Tulalip and Arlington police are looking into forming a regional property crime task force. The pilot project would target enforcement of property crimes and be housed in Marysville because “we’ve shown good results,” Smith said.
The program would be eligible for grants and include a social service aspect to help those with drug addictions.
“We want to stop the younger users in schools,” Smith said, adding that is when many get hooked on opiates such as heroin. We want to make sure those “knuckleheads go to jail.”
