Fewer than 20 people have been cited for public drug use in Bellingham since April 2023, when the first of two laws were passed in an attempt to decrease the number of people openly consuming illicit drugs.
Six citations were issued by Bellingham Police under the city ordinance before it was repealed, effectively having been replaced by a state law enacted in July that made public drug use a gross misdemeanor.
Bellingham police officers as of Jan. 8 have written 13 citations under the new state law since it was adopted by the city in August.
“The City of Bellingham’s initial ordinance was very effective as police had been left without any recourse to stop public drug use and possession of a controlled substance,” Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy said.
Before the ordinance, there was nothing officers had in their toolbox to help curb the behavior, Murphy explained.
Then-Mayor Seth Fleetwood told the city council in a memo that the “vast majority” of police contacts under the new ordinance would be verbal warnings or citations, not arrests. Still, the ordinance was met with stiff opposition, with critics calling for treatment.
There was also hope that a proposed therapeutic court would be up and running in the municipal court within six months of the ordinance being passed. Therapeutic courts, under state law, keep drug offenders out of jail, offer treatment and then dismiss any charges that stemmed from drug use. However, the court is still not up and running.
Shortly after the Bellingham ordinance went into effect, Gov. Jay Inslee recalled the state Legislature for an emergency session to address the state’s drug possession law.
The one-day special session resulted in Inslee signing Senate Bill 5536 on May 16. The law made both drug possession and public drug use a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail. Additionally, the bill provided $44 million in drug treatment and recovery services, and another $9 million for attorneys who represent clients that face charges of the new offenses.
“Though it was brought back as a gross misdemeanor, [it] allows officers to conduct a legal stop, make the arrest and search the individual incident to arrest for further drugs,” Murphy said. “The arrest then allows the prosecutors to funnel people into recovery options if they are willing to accept that.”
Both laws, when in place, allowed officers to direct people to Whatcom County’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, which is also known as Let Everyone Advance with Dignity. This could be done in lieu of making an arrest.
The program, which has been adopted by 35 communities throughout the U.S., works with people who have frequent interactions with law enforcement officers and low-level offenses connected to substance use, extreme poverty, homelessness, or mental and behavioral health challenges.
The Bellingham Police Department does not track how many people its officers directly refer to the LEAD program, which can help those in the program manage their immediate needs while building trust to get to the root of their challenges.
The program had 50 referrals from law enforcement officers in 2023. However, that includes ones from Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, Bellingham Police Department and Blaine Police Department, explained county health department communications specialist Marie Duckworth.
“All our Response Systems Division programs are a public health approach to public safety,” Duckworth said. These include Ground-Level Response and Coordinated Engagement (GRACE), therapeutic courts, LEAD and others. Law enforcement made 30 referrals to the GRACE program in 2023.
“These programs are all interconnected and designed to provide a continuum of care based on each client’s individual circumstances,” Duckworth said. “LEAD is one component of a larger public health approach that addresses the underlying causes of low-level criminal behavior by connecting people to services.”
At the time that the ordinance was passed in Bellingham, the LEAD program was already close to capacity. It is now at capacity because “our legal system partners continue to make appropriate referrals to this diversion program,” said Malora Christensen, Whatcom County’s Response Systems Division manager.
The program capacity ranges from 120 to 140 program participants.
The legislation passed by the state is part of a larger movement in Washington toward supporting individuals who are struggling, Christensen said.
“We know that we will have more public safety when those individuals are connected to support that addresses the addiction, that addresses the homelessness, that addresses the untreated mental health,” Christensen said.
With the LEAD program at capacity, county health workers connect individuals with other services, while prioritizing law enforcement referrals.
“We are also trying to see if there are ways in which we can enhance the LEAD team, so that those case loads could be a little larger without sacrificing the quality of service that we provide,” Christensen said.
The question facing community stakeholders at this point is should the LEAD program be expanded? If so, how big should it be?, Christensen asked.
“I would echo that LEAD is not doing this work, isolated from other system improvement projects in the legal system,” Christensen said. “So, it can’t all be on this one diversion program.”
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
