Issues of local policing were at the front and center in a recent discussion between elected officials and the public.
On March 30, Clark County Councilor Michelle Belkot and county Sheriff John Horch took questions from constituents at a town hall meeting hosted at The Gathering Place church in Hazel Dell. Although Horch has taken part in a previous public meeting, it was the first time Belkot, who won an election for the council’s District 2 seat last November, took to the microphone to answer questions from those she represents.
Belkot said it was part of her campaign promise last year that she would make it a habit to host events like the town hall.
“I talked to a lot of District 2 business owners and community members that felt like they weren’t being listened to and I’m definitely listening,” Belkot said. “I’m responding as fast as I can.”
Since she was sworn into the role in January, Belkot said a repeated issue she has heard from county residents focuses on the construction of developments near them. Many of those people said they didn’t receive adequate notice of what was happening.
“There has been a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to different construction projects that the county gets involved in,” Belkot said.
One way to alleviate that is through a push for more outreach through social media, she said.
Sheriff’s staffing
Horch, who was also elected last November, has spent his entire 33-year career in law enforcement with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
Established in 1849, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office is the oldest law enforcement agency in Washington state, Horch said.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues, Horch said law enforcement across the board took the biggest hit to staffing he had seen throughout his career. He said that issue is changing, however, as he commented on how many recruits he runs into at the sheriff’s headquarters who are waiting to attend the state law enforcement academy.
“I have never seen that in my 33 years, of groups (of recruits) waiting to go,” Horch said.
A few of the questions for Horch dealt with the sheriff’s office’s operations before he stepped into the leadership role. Horch mentioned he publicly raised concern over the county’s decision to take over the responsibilities of running the county jail from the sheriff as they put it under the control of an internal department last year, though he could only speculate on why the county decided to take that route.
He also addressed his predecessor Chuck Atkins’ decision to publicly talk about changes to what calls deputies would physically respond to. In March 2022, Atkins announced deputies wouldn’t respond to low-level calls due to staffing issues.
At that time, Horch said he didn’t see any part of the decision to publicly state response cuts as a political move.
“In my opinion, that communication probably should have come out two or three years early, in discussing … the staffing issues,” Horch said.
A few weeks before the town hall, Horch said he instructed deputies to resume responding to the offenses subject to the policy change if they were not currently handling other assignments. Even with the change to the office’s response, he said those offenses could still be reported through the office’s online system.
The county is dealing with its own staffing issues outside of the sheriff’s office. Belkot mentioned she had a meeting about a compensation study that has been scheduled, which will look at how the county compares to other local governments in terms of pay.
Those present brought up a number of questions about homelessness and the impact it has on the community.
On abandoned recreational vehicles, Belkot said the county recently approved a contract with a towing company to facilitate the removal of those RVs.
After Belkot heard from constituents that the abandoned vehicles are an issue, Horch said he received a flurry of messages from the councilor about what she heard from residents.
“I haven’t seen a councilor get on something that fast before and move it through,” Horch said.
Horch said the vehicles are towed only if they are abandoned, but does not apply to an RV that someone is living in.
Belkot said anything to do with contracts is in her wheelhouse because of her experience prior to her time on the council. She mentioned the county recently released a solicitation for companies who will work on architectural and engineering designs to remodel the Clark County Jail and bring it up to operational levels the county requires.
Homelessness,
police law changes
The work of the sheriff’s office often intersects with the issue of homelessness, Horch said, though it isn’t the office’s authority to make changes on how they handle the issue. That is something the county government can address, though Belkot said it hasn’t been easy.
“We just don’t have the funding,” she said.
She mentioned ongoing work with the ECHO board to find a place to put a “safe stay” housing location. Vancouver currently has two of those communities within its city limits, with a third one in the works.
Belkot said the county increased its spending on programs that address homelessness from about $10 million to roughly $14 million. Much of that money came from American Rescue Plan Act funds the county received.
That funding increased the indoor emergency shelter capacity of the county by more than 100, Belkot said.
Horch spoke about the changes in police laws, specifically about the restriction on when law enforcement is able to conduct a vehicle pursuit. He said a bill that would reverse some of the new restrictions is still making its way through the Washington State Legislature.
He said the bill “is a large step in the right direction,” although it doesn’t make all the changes law enforcement has asked for.
Belkot said the bill has unanimous support among councilors and commissioners from around the state.
Horch addressed another change in law enforcement centered around the decriminalization of drug possession. He said his office’s personnel are primarily focused on finding and charging those who deal in large amounts of illegal substances because of the changes.
“I can’t imagine in my career that this summer, after the (legislative) session’s over, that pounds of methamphetamine or cocaine on the front seat (of a car) would be legal, but we’re heading toward that,” Horch said. “That is not the way to go.”
