BREMERTON — Every so often you will see another “viral” video of a police officer pushing or otherwise inappropriately handling a call involving a 10- or 12-year-old child. One of the many questions that should be asked when this occurs, and as officers are held accountable for, is why the police were called in the first place.

Last Friday, we were called to a social service agency via 911 because they had an out of control 10-year-old who was tearing up a room and pushing the staff. The agency has a “no-hands-on” policy, especially with ten-year-olds, so they called us to control him. Officer Phil Whatley arrived, and just the sight of an officer made the young man slow down in his behavior. None of the staff were injured, but a lot of items were broken. The child has a learning disability and had just been relocated here from another city.

Officer Whatley had a nice discussion with the child. Medical aid was called for a transport to the hospital for an evaluation. Officer Whatley rode in back of the ambulance. Nice work by Officer Whatley handling this incident verbally and with patience.

Speaking of patience, our supervisors and officers showed exactly that on Wednesday when we received a call at the 1100 block of McKenzie Avenue. The call came in as “threats with a hatchet.” Can’t say we get that every day.

A man was attempting to serve the resident with a restraining order, which had been issued out of Kitsap County Superior Court. When he knocked on the door, the resident responded by raising a hatchet and threatening to kill him.

On our arrival, the suspect was inside the house and would not respond to any attempted communication. Officers obtained a search warrant and had members of the SWAT Team respond. SWAT members approached the residence and were preparing to make entry when the suspect gave up and came out.

There were no injuries and there was no force used. This apparently led to gratitude among the many neighbors who were outside to see what happened, and caused frustration to the half-a-dozen others who stood by with their camera phones raised for over an hour. The hatchet was located and taken into evidence. The suspect was jailed for two counts of assault and harassment with a total bail of $150,000.

A number of items were found in a car at a routine traffic stop, including suspected heroin, syringes and drug paraphernalia. Photo: Bremerton Police Department

Good, aggressive traffic enforcement not only leads to safer roadways, it also leads to good arrests. Wednesday, Officer Derek Ejde stopped a car in West Bremerton for having a brake light out. The driver was cited, and the car had several passengers.

In the course of the traffic stop, Ejde arrived and recognized the rear-seat passenger as a woman with outstanding arrest warrants. As the passengers got out, a number of items fell out of pockets and onto the floor, such as suspected heroin, syringes and drug paraphernalia. Rut-Roh. The car was impounded and a search warrant was obtained. Great job by both officers!

Finally, Congressman Derek Kilmer took the time to ride with Sgt. Billy Renfro this week. He wanted to learn more about BPD as well as issues and problems all departments are facing related to mental health and opioids. We really appreciate his interest and his time!

— Steven D. Strachan, Chief of Police, Bremerton Police Department.
360-473-5224
Steven.Strachan@ci.bremerton.wa.us