SEQUIM — Police Chief Robert Spinks thought he had a load of good news to deliver Monday night.
A federal grant of nearly $300,000 is about to flow into the Sequim Police Department’s purse, for one thing. During its meeting Monday, the Sequim City Council voted 6-1, with member Erik Erichsen opposed, to accept the money.
Also Monday, Spinks outlined results of the Police Department’s 2009 Citizen Survey, including that the public perception of the police is better than ever, at least according to the survey’s 224 respondents.
But repeatedly throughout the meeting, Erichsen grilled the chief, expressing skepticism about the citizens’ poll and voting against taking the federal-stimulus money.
Spinks, however, highlighted the survey’s positive results: Fifty-nine percent of respondents said the Sequim Police’s responsiveness to community policing needs and complaints has been good, in contrast with 45 percent responding thus to the same survey question in 2005.
Also according to the poll, 65 percent of respondents had seen a police officer pull over a motorist in Sequim in the past week — up from just 16 percent in 2005.
The proportion who called police response time “good” went from 37 percent four years ago to 52 percent this year; also in 2009, 34 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that “the staffing level of the Police Department is adequate for the crime and police problems the city has.” Only 16 percent thought so in 2005.
Feel safe?
When asked whether they “feel safe being out in Sequim at night,” 76 percent responded affirmatively, up from 2005’s 74 percent.
“This was a home run. I’m pretty proud,” Spinks said.
Erichsen wasn’t impressed. “Usually before you can draw a conclusion . . . from a statistical analysis,” he said, “you have to develop a hypothesis,” and he saw nothing of the sort in Spinks’ survey.
“This is not statistically valid,” Erichsen added.
Spinks agreed, saying the poll wasn’t a scientific analysis “by any stretch.”
Mayor Pro Tem Ken Hays jumped in next, saying that aside from the “feel-good” aspect, “most of these questions are meaningless,” and are unlikely to help the police or the City Council better address the needs of Sequim residents.
“I would be more than happy to sit down [with any council member],” to write a better survey, Spinks said.
Questions about grant
Later in Monday’s meeting, Erichsen leveled a series of questions at the grant Spinks’ police force is poised to receive thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: $299,569 to hire a civilian forensic investigator, fund a “crime scene trailer,” and pay for training, supplies and equipment and a new police vehicle. Also included in the grant is some $164,000 in overtime pay.
All of this is for the Crime Scene Investigation Improvement Project, a two-year program during which the Sequim Police will learn state-of-the-science crime-scene evidence gathering.
The grant is aimed at helping rural communities increase their numbers of misdemeanor and low-grade felony arrests, Spinks noted.
The new forensic investigator will act as a shared resource for all of Clallam and Jefferson counties, and the Sequim Police will provide training for other law enforcement agencies across the north Peninsula.
“After the grant ends,” Erichsen asked, “we still have an employee that’s a union employee [whom] we have to place?”
No, Spinks answered, adding that the employee’s contract will last exactly two years.
“In the event that the grant money runs out before time runs out, what happens?” Erichsen asked.
“That can’t happen,” Spinks said, since the funds are distributed over and earmarked for exactly 24 months.
After everyone but Erichsen voted for accepting the money, Spinks thanked the council.
“I appreciate your confidence,” he said. Spinks plans to post the forensic investigator job opening this week and start interviewing candidates as soon as possible.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.