King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) deputies say neighborhood complaints about crime in White Center are skyrocketing.
To combat that increase, the KCSO Special Emphasis Team has been working alongside the Department of Corrections and King County Metro’s Bicycle Emphasis Enforcement Squad (BEES) to conduct extra patrols.
In February, the teams made 12 arrests in one night. This Tuesday alone, they arrested six more people for unlawful transit conduct, trespassing, reckless driving, domestic violence assault, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Most of those were existing warrants.
KCSO Major Koby Hamill spoke about the operations exclusively to KIRO 7. He tells us a big part of these patrols is looking for issues at King County Metro bus stops and on the buses themselves.
He said people often use buses and stops to get out of the elements, but with that comes drug use and drinking in areas where that is not allowed.
Some of those situations result in a trespass warning or violation, but more serious offenses result in criminal consequences.
However, some cases aren’t so cut and dry.
On Tuesday, KCSO deputies were on an emphasis patrol when they found a man smoking weed on a bus. Major Hamill tells us the BEES followed the bus and had the driver pull over so they could take the man into custody for smoking weed on the bus.
“The deputies stumbled onto something much bigger from just that small stop,” Hamill said.
He tells us the deputies tried to escort the man off the bus, but he became uncomfortable and tried to pull away.
When they patted him down, Hamill said deputies found a gun — an Uzi with a silencer under the man’s shirt and tucked down his pants.
An Uzi is a military-grade machine gun that is generally illegal to own in the United States.
Hamill said this man is also a convicted felon, so he legally can’t have any sort of gun anyway.
“This is not something we run into daily, that’s for sure,” Hamill said.
He said they are grateful that the gun is off the streets, and they got to it before any harm could be done.
He said they will continue to do these emphasis patrol nights as long as people are reporting feeling unsafe in the area.
“It’s very interesting in this job how very minor contacts can lead to some charges or stopping criminal activity in our community,” Hamill said.
If you see someone with a weapon on a bus or at a stop, deputies say you should call 911 immediately.