Police restrictions big talking point at National Night Out
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 2, 2023
For four decades, community members around the nation have taken the first Tuesday of every August as a chance to reconnect with local law enforcement, firefighters and other public safety workers on a National Night Out.
Mary Brouillard returned to Kitsap’s event Aug. 1 at the Haselwood Family YMCA in Silverdale. While her kids might have found more joy in the sweet cold treats on a hot day, they also showed plenty of enthusiasm when getting to sit in a police vehicle, among other things.
“For one, it’s a lot of fun,” she said, “but it’s good to see the real-life superheroes. These guys are doing the work, and no, they’re not scary. They’re not surprising with their uniforms and the whole thing.”
Officers from the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, State Patrol, Citizen’s Patrol and Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue made up a good portion of the event, but other public health and safety organizations were there as well.
Danielle Gorman, community development administrator for Peninsula Community Health Services, showcased that organization’s mobile medical capabilities. “I believe that coming to these outreach events and being available to let the families know there is healthcare that can come to them and meet people where they’re at,” she said.
The event gave some community members the opportunity to express frustrations concerning restrictions placed on local and state law enforcement, namely the controversial vehicular pursuit legislation. Brouillard said she believes events like this promoting law enforcement are more important than ever given the state’s position on such things.
“I’ve seen them doing really amazing work here,” she said. “I know the department in Kitsap is doing what they can.”
Those same opinions were shared by Theresa Ballew of Housing Kitsap. She said it is important to understand not just what law enforcement needs to do, but also what it can do given restrictions. “I think that if those restrictions were able to loosen up a little bit more that they could do their jobs a little bit better—the way that they were trained to be able to take care of us.”
Sheriff John Gese has often complained about the vehicular pursuit laws. The more softspoken Russ Clithero, the undersheriff, said despite such restrictions the department is taking the approach that, “We’re just doing the same thing we’ve always done, and we just have all these new laws. We can still do police work. We just have to take more steps, but we can arrest people and take people to jail.”
Detective Sgt. Brandon Myers, while acknowledging some of the same frustrations, also reminded the community to remember to keep reporting crimes as they see them so police can do everything they can to keep innocent lives safe.
“If it doesn’t get reported, if you don’t call 911, then we don’t know what’s happening. When there are these pushes that people say there’s nothing going on here when in reality there is a lot going on, it’s just not being reported. It’s this, kind of, double-edged sword.”
