An approach to law enforcement, new in Kitsap County, begins in Poulsbo this month. City cops who come across someone suspected of a low-level crime – like shoplifting or trespassing in a park – will have the choice to either arrest the individual or send the person to the city-run North Kitsap Recovery Resource Center to learn how to get connected to community resources, such as drug treatment or housing placement.

If the person voluntarily goes to the center and is introduced to available services that can help turn their life around, their case will not be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office. However, if a person fails to contact the center, their case will be filed in criminal court.

The pre-arrest diversion program is receiving kudos from the police department and prosecutor’s office, as well as the public defender’s office.

“I’m really excited about the program,” said Kitsap County Prosecutor Chad Enright, who, along with Poulsbo police chief Ron Harding, is implementing the progressive program. “What I am particularly excited about is the ability to give police officers options. I want an officer to have the discretion to take somebody and get them into treatment. That may be the best way to get to somebody and get them to change their lives.”

Chief Harding added, “It’s an opportunity for us to provide them with some incentive to face their issues and get some help.”

Head of the county’s public defense program, Steve Lewis, also supports the diversion initiative since it avoids getting a person tied to the criminal justice system and will save taxpayers money.

“We currently have a public defender shortage. One way to address this problem is to not have people enter the system in the first place. That’s where law enforcement-assisted diversion has great promise. It basically gets us out of providing them with an attorney, that ultimately saves jurisdictions like Kitsap County and the city of Poulsbo money on attorneys. And hopefully, it betters the individual as well,” Lewis said.

Only misdemeanor offenses are eligible for diversion.

“It would be things like shoplifting. A lot of times, people will steal things like food from a grocery store. That would be one of the instances we’d try to help them out. Or, trespassing or maybe disorderly conduct. Simple possession of drugs would be another qualifying offense,” Harding said. “We won’t offer diversion every time. If it’s somebody who we contacted for the fourth time for shoplifting, we’re not going to offer diversion. We’re going to just take them to jail.”

Domestic violence incidents where arrest is mandatory, and assaults involving injury would also not be eligible for the new program, the chief explained.

Benefits

The diversion program is designed to benefit the individual by connecting them to needed services and the community by reducing the chance that the person will become a repeat offender, per officials.

“We’re hoping this gives us some kind of immediate leverage,” Harding said. “It’s an opportunity for us to provide them with incentive to face their issues and get some help. We can say, ‘Hey, you can go to jail right now, or I can take you somewhere where you could get some help.’ There’s a very short window where people are open to changing their behavior. And that’s what we’re trying to capitalize on.”

Harding believes the community will benefit under this approach. A person can move out of the criminal justice system once they get connected to needed services provided through the resource center, he said.

“We have seen people move from homelessness into temporary housing and then into permanent housing through the center. I think we can expand that, especially if we can get folks that are maybe first-time offenders. The first time you get arrested and you’re facing charges, the person says, ‘I got to do something different. I need to change the way I’m operating my life.’ That’s where we think it’s going to be really effective. It diverts first-time criminals from becoming frequent flyers or regulars with a criminal lifestyle.

The recovery resource center is a walk-in, no-cost facility for anyone interested in drug or alcohol treatment. The center, located at 19351 8th Avenue in downtown Poulsbo, also connects clients to other services ranging from mental health and dental to housing, said Kim Hendrickson, director of Housing, Health, and Human Services for the city of Poulsbo, which oversees operation of the center.

Hendrickson looks forward to the start of the program.

“This new diversion initiative allows us to open our doors even wider to offer support and services to people in our community struggling with addiction issues,” she said. “I am grateful that I work in a city with a police department that sees its role being public safety, but also public health. We have a chief and officers that want to work as our partners to figure out how people struggling with addiction can actually get help and care and not just be run through the criminal legal system again and again.”

To those who may think diversion goes easy on criminals, Harding insists this is not a “soft on crime” program.

“There’s still accountability. If we get a report from the center that this person did not go there within 48 hours, we still file the charge. That’s something that they know upfront,” he said.

Harding admits there is some risk to the pre-arrest program, but he is confident it will succeed since a would-be offender still faces accountability if they fail to visit the resource center.

“This gives a cop an opportunity – in the moment – to connect someone to the center. That very day, they could be in jail, but instead, will be at the center, starting to get help. I think it’ll be very effective,” Harding said.

In the long term, Poulsbo’s top cop hopes pre-arrest diversion will be a model program that can be duplicated in other jurisdictions in the county.