Sheriff Morrison discusses local issues with Cashmere City Council

CASHMERE—In the hopes of promoting region-wide public transparency, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison visited the Cashmere City Council and delivered the previous year’s detailed annual report, taking note of local concerns and explaining ongoing projects.

In illuminating the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office 2023 Annual Report, Sheriff Morrison focused on his agency’s ongoing goals in establishing and maintaining high standards for local law enforcement. 

“So, it’s been a balancing act,” Sheriff Morrison mentioned, “because, of course, we want to make sure we’re in compliance, that we’re training the best standards, and that we’re setting that bar in a lot of cases. And I think we’re headed in the right direction so far, in 2024, it seems like we’re on pace.” 

Sheriff Morrison also revealed many of the ongoing successes and challenges of 2024, giving updates on the progress made since 2023. Notably, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office is currently in the process of adding two more deputies to its team, hoping to keep up with its massive coverage of around 80,000 residents. With this inclusion, the Sheriff’s Office law enforcement team is set to increase to 59 total deputies.

Additionally, Sheriff Morrison mentioned his agency’s success in securing federal funding for the county-wide use of body cameras, a joint effort with State Representative Kim Schrier to promote further transparency within local law enforcement.

“Our hope is that we’re going to get those on our personnel starting here in January,” he commented, looking forward to implementing the new technology and improving his agency’s ability to hold both its deputies and those involved in cases to more accurate accountability.

A different type of camera held the focus of Sheriff Morrison’s overview, however, a license plate camera system with the ability to identify specific vehicles on public roadways. 

Though the notion of increased roadway surveillance may make some uneasy, those worried about the increased likelihood of speeding tickets may rest assured, these cameras won’t be giving out tickets or reporting infractions. In fact, as Sheriff Morrison revealed, these cameras won’t be directly making any money.

“They’re not speeding cameras, they’re not red light cameras, and we don’t collect or store facial recognition information,” Sheriff Morrison explained. “It’s specifically designed for collecting information on vehicles.

Instead of issuing tickets, these cameras can help with more urgent law enforcement issues, such as thefts, missing persons, and interlocal searches. 

“One example I can give you of this system is, let’s say we have a burglary out of Lake Wenatchee, and the camera down on the residence there just gets a side image and we know that it’s a white truck with a toolbox and has front passenger side damage. I can type that into the system and say, ‘I’m looking for a vehicle match in this description that went through this area at these time frames. Cameras, what do you have?’” 

Hoping to initiate a pilot program within the next year, Sheriff Morrison showed confidence in the improved camera system’s ability to help law enforcement identify and apprehend possibly dangerous suspects. In support of its integration within most of their partnered communities, the Sheriff cited Omak Police Department’s success in solving an Okanogan County homicide.

“There had been a young lady who had been murdered… and they were able to use the camera to collect images of the suspect vehicle,” he shared. It went up there clean and came back down covered in dust. They were able to take that piece of information about the suspect and ultimately solve the case.”

Curious about the cameras, City Council member, Jayne Stephenson, spoke up with a question for the Sheriff. 

“For the cameras,” she asked, “will other departments be able to utilize those too for, like, statewide manhunts?”

Responding to Council Member Stephenson’s question, Sheriff Morrison assured the Council that the use of these improved cameras is made possible through the teamwork of various local agencies and municipalities.

“This was a coordinated effort between Wenatchee PD, East Wenatchee, Douglas County, and ourselves,” he explained, focusing on the importance of including as many partners as possible in the life-saving potential of an upgraded license plate camera system.

As Sheriff Morrison concluded the overview of his agency’s ongoing projects, he turned to the City Council and addressed their local concerns, chiefly the increasing homeless population within Chelan County. The Sheriff offered his agency’s constant help in ensuring that any homeless individuals arriving in the area are legally escorted from city property and connected to resources like the Chelan-Douglas Homeless Homeless Housing Network. 

Curious about ways to assist local homeless individuals, Council Member Shela Pistoresi wondered about the effects of mental illness on the local homeless community.

“As you’re encountering people,” Pistoresi asked, “how much of [local homelessness] is caused by mental health issues, since we do have the Behavioral Health Unit.”

The Sheriff turned to Corporal Monika Haynes, who works closely with the Behavioral Health Unit, to further explain the complex combinations of issues that can affect, cause, and be caused by homelessness.

“The vast majority of it,” she answered, “they’re co-occurring. And all your [homeless] residents that we have here are co-occuring, and usually, you’ll see that when they start to act out that maybe they’re using [drugs], and then when they’ll not use for a while, we won’t see them for a while. And so it is a multi-faceted problem, there’s no one way to deal with it.” Monika Haynes

Haynes continued to explain the complexity of homelessness and the issues that help to cause it, revealing that confronting such issues requires interlocal teamwork and access to a variety of mental health, food, and housing resources.

Though the struggle to confront homelessness and other local issues remains ongoing, Sheriff Morrison feels confident in his agency’s progress in addressing them.

“I think that our agency’s hitting the mark” he commented. “I recognize that our contract is coming up next year for negotiation, and we’re certainly hoping that we’ve delivered that level of service that the city. We certainly view you as partners and allies with ensuring the quality of life [in the region].”

As 2024 begins winding down into Autumn and Winter, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office looks forward to continuing its service to its many partnered NCW communities. Hoping to equip deputies and roadways with high-quality tech and further expand its team, the Sheriff’s Office continues to push forward with passion.   

For an online copy of the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office 2023 Annual Report, visit co.chelan.wa.us/files/sheriff/documents/annual_report.pdf. 

Will Nilles: (509) 731-3211 or will@ward.media