Crime Reduction Team promising in first few months

EPHRATA — Grant County Sheriff Joey Kriete said he’s very excited about the progress the Grant County Sheriff’s Office’s Crime Reduction Team has been able to make since it was implemented about two and a half months ago.  

“Those guys are working their tails off and they’re doing some phenomenal work out there,” Kriete said. “My whole purpose of starting the Crime Reduction Team is because we had this gap in law enforcement here in Grant County that for years we just really weren't able to effectively address.”  

The sheriff said there are a few layers to law enforcement that most people don’t consider. The basic level is the patrol deputy who responds regularly to calls for service throughout the day. Those calls may be fender benders, domestic violence cases or other issues that arise and require an officer to be dispatched. While deputies try to follow up and solve crimes, their daily workload is limited, making it difficult to close cases.  

Above that, prior to the Crime Reduction Team’s implementation, is the Major Crimes Unit. That group investigates violent incidents or significant crimes that are more involved from an investigative standpoint. These include murders, sexual assault and similar cases that may present an ongoing danger to the community. 

Beside the Major Crimes Unit is the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team, also known as INET, that works on major drug cases in and around the Columbia Basin. That team includes GCSO investigators as well as officers from several other law enforcement agencies around the region. The team’s focus is large drug busts where pounds of substances like fentanyl and methamphetamine are taken off the streets.  

“And then you’ve got this gap in the middle of (patrol level and Major Crimes) which covers your chronic rural thefts that happen, your gang issues that happen; yoru chronic assaults that happen, whether it’s drive-bys or things like that, that really impact your day-to-day community members in Grant County,” Kriete said.  

That's where the Crime Reduction Team, or CRT, comes in, he said. The idea is to fill the gap in closing cases patrol deputies don’t have time to investigate but are also important to see through to an arrest and a day in court. The cases are not severe enough for the Major Crimes Unit to take on, but they do require special attention and aren’t something that can be let go. GCSO wants the victims in those cases and the perpetrators to see justice, Kriete said.  

The team has three GCSO staff on it, but is slated to get two more members in the next few months as other deputies come off of rotation to help train new staff. Sgt. Jason Ball runs the team as a supervisor while deputies Chuck Paul and Adam Davis serve on the team, Kriete said.  

Each of the team members brings a unique skill set to the team, Kreite said. Ball has years of experience in law enforcement and a passion for closing cases. Davis is a senior deputy that has deep Grant County roots and has helped train new deputies. Paul has experience on the Moses Lake Police Department force as well as experience in a larger metro area in Texas and experience in investigations and writing search warrants, as well as technical skills for dealing with cellular devices and other technology that can help find the information to close a case.  

Data is starting to be pulled together on the effectiveness of the team overall, but Kriete said its already apparent that the team is a successful initiative. Multiple reports come in each week showing cases being completed and handed over for prosecution.  

Kriete said that, like most things, GCSO can use the public’s support as it moves forward with the CRT group. Any crime tips can be called in using the GCSO non-emergency number or can be submitted through the GCSO’s website.  

“If you go to the sheriff’s office website, you can just type up a crime tips email and it goes to several people. It doesn’t just go to one, so you should be getting to somebody that is working every day,” Kriete said.  

Submit a crime tip:  

Email: crimetips@grantcountywa.gov  
Phone: 509-754-2011
Emergencies: 911