The Olympia Police Department outlined its efforts to address human trafficking and other crime trends in the city, emphasizing a survivor-focused approach.
Olympia Police Chief Rich Allen spoke at Wednesday's Community Livability and Public Safety Committee meeting, giving an update on public safety and reporting a decrease in certain crimes.
According to Allen, robberies declined significantly by 43% in the first half of 2024 compared to the full year of 2023.
In 2023, the OPD recorded 92 robberies, while in the first half of 2024, there were 27 robberies—a 43% downtrend.
Auto thefts are down, from 303 in 2023 to 113 in January to June 2024. Allen attributed this development to targeted efforts against known felons involved in the same crime.
"We have been targeting them, and we have been doing area patrols and placing emphasis on areas where the auto thefts have occurred,” the police chief said.
Trespass arrests have decreased, which the department believes is due to the increased presence and emphasis of the downtown walking patrol.
The OPD reported 96 commercial burglaries in the first six months of this, 78 incidents in residential.
Bike thefts are up, with 21 incidents from January to June this year compared to 27 the previous year.
Olympia Police Detective Al Weinnig presented the issue of human trafficking, which he described as "modern-day slavery."
Weinnig explained that the department is tackling both labor and sex trafficking, with massage parlors, online prostitution ads, and the exchange of sex for drugs or housing as the primary concerns in Olympia.
"We approach all these investigations from a survivor-centric mindset. We hope to get the survivors the resources they need, and then hold the traffickers or those that putting people in those positions accountable," the police detective said.
Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne asked about the challenges in responding to human trafficking, especially in homeless encampments.
One of the primary obstacles is the survivors' lack of cooperation.
As Weinnig explained, "The survivors of human trafficking vary in nationality and gender, and most have a culture that is distrustful of law enforcement, making their cooperation and investigation difficult." Weinnig said.
Weinnig noted that survivors "fear that they may be deported or that their families will be harmed or financially damaged." This fear of consequences often leads to survivors withdrawing their cooperation, even after initially coming forward.
Another significant challenge is the hidden nature of human trafficking, particularly in the context of homeless encampments.
"This doesn't look like a typical crime,” Weinnig noted. “It's not something that we can just drive by and notice if someone is working or living in servitude and having to exchange favors for safety and housing within a tent.
“That's not something that's easily spotted,” the detective continued.
Another limiting factor is the lack of trained undercover investigators in the region who can go in and establish probable cause to find these sex acts that happen in exchange for money.
Weinnig mentioned that the OPD has been working on cases involving illicit massage parlors, which he described as one of the more difficult areas to investigate.
"So going deeper into massage parlors, we're working a case right now. We've had a couple in the past that we've had some efforts put in, but just haven't gotten results that we are looking for," the police detective said, adding these difficult cases "require multiple levels of cooperation from various individuals involved to actually get an arrest and then convict individuals for promoting prostitution and human trafficking."
Weinnig outlined the steps that the department is taking in combating human trafficking.
Committee member Clark Gilman commended the department's survivor-centric approach, saying, "I hear a lot of respect in your leaning on a survivor, victim-centric approach to the work. It's just important to me that we daylight the issue, much like we work on stigma and several other issues that it's among the most heartbreaking issues we have in our community."
CLPS Chair Yen Huynh said that the presentation debunked the common misconception that human trafficking is not an issue in the local community. "It is important to know and hear and talk about it like it is real, because it is."
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Honestyandrealityguy
I have volunteered for 3 organizations that help fight Human Trafficking. The number one cause is illegal immigration. Sad.
Friday, August 23 Report this
wildnature
How about coffee shacks with advertised under dressed workers, as a source of human trafficking?
Saturday, August 24 Report this
JasonS
wildnature - That kind of off-topic moralizing distracts from the actual issue of Human Trafficking.
Saturday, August 24 Report this
FirstOtter
It may be true that 'robberies' are declining. It doesn't mean that crime has been reduced. No, the criminals are now breaking into businesses and homes, into cars, mailboxes, plain old theft of just about anything not tied down.
The Littlerock PO has been broken into three times in the last five months. Mail has been stolen and the boxes themselves vandalized. These are felonies, yet the criminals are still out there. In late May, a neighbor had a garage sale and thieves actually 'cased' the home/garage...and two nights later, broke into the garage and stole a generator. Another neighbor surprised a pair of thieves in his driveway, they were about to steal his truck and he put them on their knees with a handgun. He did NOT shoot them. The TCSO deputy arrived shortly thereafter, discovered that the male of the male/female pair of thieves had a warrant for his arrest from Lewis County...and he released them, saying 'the jail is full." Then he told the neighbors that it's not trespassing if there's one, no gate, two, no No Trespassing sign, and three, the homeowner could possibly have been arrested for threatening the poor, sad little t hieves with a gun.
Really makes you wonder why you still pay your taxes, don't commit crimes, and can't defend yourself or your property. Thieves get away with crimes because there's no consequences for crimes other than a 'poor boy, you were bullied, right?" and released.
Sunday, August 25 Report this
sonshi
Decline in 'reported' robberies
Monday, August 26 Report this
TurdFerguson
Sounds like a really good reason to eliminate these "camps". Period.
Monday, August 26 Report this