Police presence, security firms, alertness help prevent crime in unincorporated areas

DESERT AIRE— Community involvement helps combat crime, especially in places where law enforcement officers have a lot of ground to cover. Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, said there are procedures people who live in locations like Desert Aire can do to make the area less appealing as a target. 

“The public should continue to follow the good advice to report anything suspicious that they see," Foreman said. “And take all the necessary precautions, like locking up valuables, locking up outbuildings, securing your vehicle, locking doors and windows on your house.”  

As an unincorporated area, Desert Aire is under GCSO jurisdiction; the sheriff’s office covers unincorporated areas from the Coulee City area in the north to the area around the Vernita Bridge in the south. 

The Desert Aire Homeowners Association said the HOA has a contract with a security service operated by the Port of Quincy, but declined to give any details. Port of Quincy Commissioner Curt Morris said the security service provides additional oversight in the areas it patrols. 

“What we’re doing is just to show a presence,” Morris said. “We’re hoping to be proactive.” 

Entities that use the port’s service pay for a specified number of hours, Morris said. Its role is limited. 

“We really don’t have any police powers,” he said.  

Foreman said GCSO has staffing targets designed to ensure an adequate law enforcement presence throughout Grant County.  

“We try to have eight deputies on at any given time to cover the entire county. But there are variables,” he said.  

When fewer deputies are available, minimum staffing countywide is five or six, depending on the circumstances, he said. 

“There may be less coverage on a shift,” he said.  

The department divides the county into three sections. 

“There’s the north beat, which covers pretty much everything from Quincy all the way to Grand Coulee. There’s the east beat, which covers Moses Lake, Warden (and) that area; because it’s more populated there, we run a good deal of calls out there. The last one is the south beat, (which) covers Royal City, Mattawa, Desert Aire and Beverly (and) Schwana.”  

Deputies assigned to those areas are the first ones to respond when law enforcement is called.  

“If they need additional (assistance), then deputies may be redirected from other areas due to the severity of what’s going on,” Foreman said. “When deputies are assigned to a call, then they’re either patrolling or they’re completing the paperwork and records needed for previous incidents. As they’re able to do so, they conduct routine patrols to all areas of the county.” 

In a county as big as Grant County, there’s a lot of ground to cover. 

“Even when a shift is fully staffed, depending on what’s going on, there may not be enough deputies to handle all the calls. Generally, a shift for a deputy is consistently running calls from the time they get on duty until the time they get off duty,” Foreman said.  

Foreman said that’s a sign that people are listening to repeated law enforcement requests to report something when they see something. 

“We encourage people to call 911 when there’s an emergency. We encourage people to call the (Multi-Agency Communications Center) non-emergency number if they witness suspicious activity, and the public takes us up on that offer,” Foreman said. “When the public sees something and calls, we’ll send a deputy out to investigate. It’s the result of what we want to achieve, which is the cooperation from the public, calling us and letting us know when something suspicious or possibly criminal is happening. And then we’ll send the resources to take care of that problem.”