A new trespassing policy launched by the Port Orchard Police Department this year is helping the city catch up with its Kitsap County neighbors in enforceability while returning some authority back to business employees and property owners.

Trespassing had been a patchwork in the city when police chief Matt Brown arrived in 2019, and case law additionally made it harder for police to enforce trespassing at all. “There’s been some changes that said I can’t trespass anyone from your property unless you make me an agent of your business,” Brown said.

Brown had hoped to introduce new policies a few months after his arrival, but COVID derailed those plans. Now trespassing was thrust to the top of the priority list. At least 30 agreements have been reached so far. The program requires business or property owners to sign an agreement allowing the POPD to act as an agent in limited capacity to enforce the trespassing statute on that property. Owners are required to display signage declaring no trespassing and arrest statements.

The agreement and signage allow owners and even employees of businesses to call police and request a person be trespassed from the property. A triplicate form would be distributed between police, the trespassed person and the business or property owner. The trespassed person’s return to the property at any time within the next 12 months becomes an arrestable offense.

“What that allows us to do is, instead of coming in every time and escorting them out, to have that twelve-month window to enforce the law with that person or persons. It’s a voluntary program, and we’ll still come out if you have people on your property that you want to leave, but you just won’t have that secondary piece of enforceability.”

The goal of the department is to reach agreements with the “big box stores” and property managers that own a slew of properties or businesses to make the program as widely used as possible and make it easier for police to sight a single agreement as opposed to obtaining one from each building.

For details go to the city’s website.