I am writing in response to Commissioner Sean Swope’s recent commentary regarding the Lewis County 911 call center.
Swope reports that he has received “alarming reports from two residents” whose 911 calls were routed to voicemail. He goes on to take a “deeper dive” into Centralia police reports related to trespassing. He purports that local businesses “often perceive such incidents as severe enough to warrant urgent police intervention due to the risks they pose to staff and customers.”
He makes the correlation that these incidents in large part involve transients and draws the conclusion that the heavy load on our 911 system is due to the “profound and widespread” impact that transients have on our community.
I have had a business in downtown Centralia for nearly 20 years. I have called 911 once — when a pedestrian (not a transient) was so inebriated he fell outside my store and I feared may be having a medical emergency. My call was answered immediately and help arrived within moments. The other emergency was when someone (not a transient) drove into my building. In that case, a neighbor called and first responders and I arrived on the scene at the same time.
I have called the non-emergency number 360-740-1105 numerous times for inappropriate or potentially harmful behavior. In every situation, my call was answered immediately and officers arrived within 20 minutes.
I have been impressed each time with the way officers interacted with individuals, treating them with compassion and providing assistance and resources.
Swope states that many businesses in Centralia are leaving due to “constant issues of vandalism, theft, and human waste” and that parents avoid parks and downtown areas. That any business or resident has those experiences makes me sad. I don’t dispute that it may be the case for some, but it has not been my experience nor that of most of my business neighbors or customers.
Yes, I have experienced some theft and, yes, there is behavior out there that makes me uncomfortable. Never have I felt unsafe or threatened. The truly deep dive to solve the problem, not just in Lewis County but across the nation, is daunting — stop the flow of drugs (across the borders and in the doctor’s office), expand funding for all levels of mental health care, provide job training even for those without the resources to pay for it and ensure adequate housing for all income levels.
Our city and county officials, along with service providers, medical professionals, business leaders, and first responders must work together to pursue treatments and solutions in our local community — the cure may be unattainable but we can certainly do better than the bandaids Swope keeps slapping down.
I invite Commissioner Swope to visit and talk with more of his constituents who are running businesses downtown. An easy way to do it would be to show up for our weekly Merchant Coffee; during the summer we’re at Pine Street Plaza from 8:30 to 10 a.m. each Friday
Rebecca Staebler
Centralia
