Grant County prosecutor releases results on crime survey

EPHRATA — About 73 percent of people, responding to the Grant County prosecutor’s online survey, think crime in the county increased.

The prosecutor’s office released the results of a 30-day online survey started in February. About 1,300 people responded to the 22 questions, mostly from Moses Lake, Ephrata and Quincy.

“I was surprised at how overwhelming the response was,” Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee said. “The City of Kent, (Wash.,) is roughly comparable in size and they didn’t get half of the participation we did.”

The majority of people, 52 percent, listed gangs as one of the most serious problems in Grant County, followed by burglary at about 47 percent, according to the survey. In a separate question, about 63 percent of people also ranked methamphetamine use as a very serious problem.

Lee began talking with other law enforcement agencies about starting an interagency gang task force, he said. While the plan hasn’t been finalized yet, he doesn’t expect it to cost the county any more money.

He also pointed out a desire of people to see an increase in programs to help prevent people from getting involved in gangs. About 42 percent of people ranked it as their first item they’d change in the criminal justice system. This ranked 4 percent below increasing punishment.

Lee said he’s increasing the emphasis on entry-level crime in juvenile and district court. If the criminal justice system focuses on misdemeanors, it can deter people from committing more serious crimes, he said.

“If you allocate your resources correctly you can actually reduce crime that’s taking place. You can get them into treatment, if they need treatment, so we’re not locking them into a criminal cycle. We’re saving resources by doing that, so we can go after the repeat offenders.”

By focusing on prosecuting more crime in district and juvenile court, Lee said it saves the county money on public defense, because defense costs rise once a case gets into superior court.

He is also drafting charging guidelines for the prosecutor’s office. The guidelines will set a standardized way of deciding what charges should be filed, he said. The office didn’t have a formal guideline.

“The point is to determine which things are really affecting the day to day lives of people in Grant County. It’s just a matter of setting a priority. For example, the gang issue has become a problem here in the county and it’s one of the things I’m going to work on directly. The nice thing is that we have more deputy prosecutors in this office on a reduced budget,” Lee said.

The guidelines should be finished by July. Lee plans on posting them online once they’re finished, so people can comment on them, he said.

“If we outline how we’re going to handle cases, the people know we’re handling cases the same regardless of who they are,” he said. “Charging guidelines are never final … They are always subject to review and redrafting. If a method of prosecution ceases to be effective, we will change it and we will do it officially, we will do it openly, so the public has the ability to review our work as they should.”

The full survey results are available at www.co.grant.wa.us/Prosecutor.