King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Captain Joseph Hodgson met with the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council at the North Highline Fire District building on Dec. 6 to recap crime statistics, explain how cuts to KCSO affect law enforcement and discuss the latest on Club Evo, a White Center club that recently shut down.

Captain Hodgson reviewed crime statistics from November to December 2010. He said residential burglaries in the unincorporated area dropped from 18 to ten, commercial burglaries dropped from nine to two, auto thefts slightly rose from 13 to 15, robberies of all types rose slightly from one to three, assaults dropped from 14 down to five and vehicle prowls remained steady at six per month.

Hodgson said residential burglaries were, “… the one area where we showed a significant change and it was a positive change.”

Next, Hodgson discussed cuts to the KCSO in 2011.

“I have been reluctant up to this point to really talk about what was going to happen because, frankly, everything was in flux right up to the end of the year,” he said. “There was a lot of rearranging happening right up to the last minute.”

“The number of uniformed deputies driving around the streets is going to remain pretty much the same,” he continued. “The cuts in service that are going to occur will end up occurring in follow ups on property crimes and additional service areas.”

Barbara Dobkin, an at-large member of the council, asked Hodgson to clarify the rules on drinking in public in White Center in response to a recent Herald article about the homeless chronic inebriant population in the area, Chamber of Commerce targets homeless chronic inebriate problem in White Center. That article has been updated to clarify the actual laws on drinking in public in White Center.

According to Hodgson, “There is no law against being drunk in public, all over the state. Drinking in public is another issue. Just standing on the sidewalk drinking a beer is illegal.”

When it comes to the concealment of a alcoholic beverage in a paper bag, Hodgson said it gets tricky.

“We have to have reasonable suspicion that there is a crime occurring. If someone is standing there with a bag in their hand clearly that is suspicious, yet in the eyes of a neutral observer you never know what’s in that bag therefore is that enough to go up and ask them to show you what’s in that bag? So you get into some tricky areas. Now if you see somebody drinking out a bottle that is in a bag and you go up and they have alcohol on their breath and they are exhibiting the signs of (having consumed) alcohol then maybe you have enough to say, ‘Lets go ahead and see what’s in that bag.’”

Hodgson provided the latest on a high-speed chase with shots fired that originated in White Center on Jan. 2. The Herald’s coverage of that chase can be found here.

“Nobody was caught at that time,” Hodgson said. “I haven’t been privy to any information saying that the person has been arrested at this time, but I think they’ve got quite a bit of leads as far as identifying and locating the suspect.”

A member of the council asked Hodgson about the enforcement of public drinking in King County parks, where drinking alcohol is illegal.

“There’s got to be enforcement some how or another here,” the councilmember said.

“Absolutely,” Hodgson responded. “And that’s were we are starting to struggle because of staffing issues. The unit that normally handles that kind of detail where they would go out in plain clothes and issue citations to those who were drinking has been trimmed. It’s not trimmed to the point of nonexistence, (but) it comes down to trying to prioritize the issues that are most impactful to society.”

“If we miss the mark, all I can say is that we are sorry about that.”

Captain Hodgson finalized his report to the council with the latest on Club Evo, a club in White Center that was known for getting out of control on Friday and Saturday nights. Due in part to years of community pressure and complaints and various business violations, the club recently shut down.

“The latest we have on Club Evo is that there is a foreclosure process going on with them right now. There is a rumor that the owner is in the process of selling, but that is unsubstantiated,” Hodgson said.

The NHUAC meets on the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at the North Highline Fire District building at 1243 s.w. 112th St. and discusses a wide variety of issues in unincorporated King County beyond and including public safety.