It’s a Friday evening in February  and North Bend police officer Grant Boere is making his rounds through the suburban streets. When he turned off onto Main Avenue South, and merged with congested, 5 p.m. commuter traffic, I had never felt more aware of riding shotgun.

I was reminded of every time I’ve passed a police officer on the street and the slight moment of panic that ensues: “Did I pause long enough at that stop sign; did the police officer see me change my music, or glance at my GPS – and is that even wrong?”

The questions are endless, but Boere doesn’t seem to be on the prowl for venial traffic offenses. The police force considers “visibility” a crime deterrent, and he’s making his presence known at the start of his 10-hour shift.

“People genuinely love us,” Boere stated. “It’s a breath of fresh air to get to see, right in front of your face, the changes in the city.”

Boere has worked with the North Bend police for nine months and has seen the full extent of the changes in the city since the Snoqualmie police force inherited North Bend from the King County Sheriff’s Office March 8, 2014. He said North Bend is still understaffed, which means his 10-hour shift has lasted typically 12 hours for the last six months as they train and carefully pick future officers.

Boere came from the Port Townsend police force, where he said the mentality was “us versus them.” He paused as a young man on a skateboard whizzed by, pulled by his dog on a leash.

“Isn’t that awesome?” Boere laughed – and it’s immediately clear that North Bend doesn’t subscribe to the same beliefs.

Police presence

These days, North Bend subscribes to the belief that “police presence and police emphasis patrols work,” as North Bend City Administrator Londi Lindell put it.

“A year ago my phone was ringing with citizen complaints and concerns about visible illegal drug use and drug paraphernalia being sighted at our parks and open spaces,” Lindell wrote in an e-mail message to the Record last week. “Those calls have ceased, and as the survey indicates, there has been a monumental shift in our citizen satisfaction with our police services.”

The survey, an online questionnaire posted for two weeks in January, asked people about their feelings of overall safety, and their concerns with specific issue such as illegal drug use, traffic issues and transients. The nearly 300 responses were largely favorable, as people reported feeling safer, and less concerned about crime.

Overall safety impressions improved slightly. Asked if they felt safe walking in their neighborhoods by day and by night, 97 percent said they felt safe during the day, and 67 percent said they did at night. Results from last year’s online survey, also conducted in January, showed 92 percent of people felt safe in their neighborhoods during the day, and 55 percent during the night.

Police Chief Steve McCulley, presented the survey results to the North Bend City Council February 17, and was especially proud of the answers to the question, “Do you think crime in North Bend has increased, decreased or remained the same over the past 12 months?”

Only 10 percent of respondents said it has increased this year, compared to 59 percent last year; 52 percent thought crime had decreased in the past year, compared to 4 percent in 2014; and nearly equal numbers, 38 percent this year, 37 percent last year, saw no change.

“That’s an outstanding number,” McCulley told the council, “it speaks volumes to the work our officers are doing.”

That work has included, in addition to the community-oriented policing emphasis of the department in both cities, directing Friends of the Trail to clean up more than 75 transient encampments in and around North Bend, and the physical arrest of more than 400 subjects. Police also captured a man connected with two armed robberies at the North Bend Premium Outlets mall.

One case is still open, to the department’s frustration: A violent sexual assault and stabbing that took place in North Bend March 9, one day into the new police contract.

It’s not exactly cold, said McCulley, adding that he disliked the word “cold.”

“We have run out of leads,” he told the North Bend council when they asked about the case. “We are working with other agencies on it… the evidence was very limited.”

The department has not given up on that case, and McCulley has set some ambitious, but he says achievable, goals for the team going forward – particularly now that the city has approved an eighth police officer, funded by the recently approved public-safety sales tax.

To date, the city has committed to a five-year contract, at an estimated total of $7.2 million, which includes the newest hire and $77,000 for a new police car.

“We want to reduce the crime rate by 20 percent,” McCulley told the council, and one of the ways he hopes to achieve that is by continuing to engage with the public through day-to-day work and special events including National Night Out.

“Your residents are still very concerned about your criminal transient activity,” he reminded the council.

On the street

As Boere drove through the suburbs, he passed a wooden house and noticed some familiar faces standing around a SUV out front. He pulled over for a “knock and talk.” As he parked his car, he nonchalantly stated “this is a drug house.”

Boere chatted with the men about their lives, family and recent arrests like they were old friends. He politely answered their questions and seemed unfazed as men with headlamps occasionally exited the unpowered RV parked in the driveway.

Police Chief McCulley and another officer stopped by, but calling backup is standard protocol.

The “drug house” is located less than a mile away from a grove of North Bend high-end homes, and Boere said residents aren’t thrilled about the proximity.

“We can’t snap our fingers and make it go away,” he explained. “This is a safe area; everyone watches out, but there are areas that seem to attract people that are using drugs… We’re professional with the community; when we use force it’s legally and with reason.”

Boere stressed the police force makes an effort to visit downtown businesses as a part of “community policing.” He said he’s a mountain biker and frequents SingleTrack Cycles in downtown North Bend.

“My eyes and ears are the people,” he stated. “If you build relationships, you get calls.”

Officer Grant Boere serves the city of North Bend.