Using Better Tools Against Crime

John Turner, the new Walla Walla County Sheriff, got off to a running start last week when he formally introduced his new team to the media and to area law enforcement colleagues, including newly re-elected Columbia County Sheriff Walt Hessler.

The team includes Undersheriff Eddie Freyer, Operations Captain Barry Blackman and Jail Superintendent Keilen Harmon. Turner and his team were sworn in the week before, but at the time he was presented with little opportunity to outline his vision for the office.

On Friday, he released more details about his plans to follow up on campaign pledges.

Turner's top priority is to get out into the county's communities and learn firsthand of residents' law enforcement concerns and ideas.

Starting in March, the new sheriff's team will present quarterly meetings in four population centers on a rotating basis. They include Waitsburg/Prescott, Touchet/ Lowden, Wallula/Burbank and Walla Walla.

No schedule has been set yet, but Turner said he expects the gathering to be in the evening during the week.

Another top priority is to work closely with the Walla Walla Police Department and sheriff departments from neighboring counties (such as Columbia and Benton) in an effort to curtail gang activities.

Though many gang-related crimes are committed in the larger communities of Walla Walla and the Tri- Cities, there's little question highways 124 and 12 function as corridors for the movement of drugs and guns.

Turner said gang activity has regional, national and international dimensions that make it a complex challenge and require additional training among deputies, some of whom will be assigned as specialists to the squads.

The new sheriff vowed to use existing channels of inter-local collaboration and try to improve communications.

His team has close relations with Benton County law enforcement officials, and Turner will use them to adopt systems and practices that have proven successful.

An example is PARSTAT, which stands for Performance and Accountable Response to Statistics, a crime-fighting process that uses computerized statistics (CompStat) and four steps: accurate and timely intelligence, rapid deployment, effective tactics and relentless follow-up and assessment.

This system has been credited for a significant reduction in crime in major cities across the country. PARSTAT was specifically designed for the Richland Police Department. It brings together three essential components that help focus limited resources on problem identification and problem solution: statistical date review, citizen input and officer observation.

"It seems to be a very effective way of combating crime," said Captain Mike Cobb of the Richland Police Department, which introduced the process four years ago .

Crime in Richland has dropped about 5-7 percent in each of the years since it was adopted. In 2010, it fell at least 10 percent.

In December, for instance, Richland law enforcement officials curtailed a persistent car prowl operation in the far south end of town by zeroing in on the area where the theft occurred, analyzing previous arrest records and bringing extra officers to the scene so the perpetrators could be caught in the act.

The department arrested three suspects responsible for 12 different crimes.

This approach, which was first introduced in New York City in the 1990s, can work in any law enforcement jurisdiction with minor adjustments for the size and nature of local populations, including a county like Walla Walla, Cobb said.