Following a regular Twisp Council meeting April 22, the stage took a different turn.
Council members stepped down and representatives from Room One, the Okanogan County Jail, Aero Methow, Confluence Health, Family Health Centers, North Central Washington Narcotics Task Force, and the county Coroner took their seats overlooking the chamber.
They all participated in a simulation on opioid use created by Twisp Council Member Tim Matsui, who passed out a vignette to the participants: an individual prescribed pain relief for an injury spirals into opioid dependence and addiction, with somber consequences.
Everyone had a part to play- from medical providers and peer support specialists to law enforcement personnel. The goal was to present the web of services responding to the opioid problem in Okangoan County.
Sgt. Josh Petker of the narcotics task force said his agency, which is responsible for apprehending mid to high level drug dealers in Okanogan, Ferry and part of Douglas County, will lose their funding effective July 1, potentially leaving the county without any drug task force. After 30 years of funding for the task force, the Washington State Legislature allocated funds from the federal Byrne Jag Grant to harm reduction programs instead.
“We are one of the few states that said no, we’re not going to use that money anymore, and we shifted it to other programs,” said Petker. “I’m not going to say that those programs didn’t need funding, but I don’t know why we’re shifting money from one source and then trying to find another revenue to pay them.”
Petker is applying for funds from the opioid settlement that were allocated to the county this year. Already on a shoestring budget, securing funding for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, is a life and death matter for the task force.
Coroner Dave Rodriguez compared law enforcement personnel to firefighters putting out a fire. Even though there is mitigation to prevent wildfires, firefighters are still essential.
“We still need Josh and his crew to put out the fire. We can’t just tell him to stay home,” said Rodriguez. “We’re no longer interested in law enforcement and what they do. Law enforcement needs to be an integral part of this. We’ve seen in the state of Washington the fallout from decriminalizing drugs, defunding or underfunding these guys, and it’s not the solution.”
Didi Burrington of the Behavioral Health Unit, which works with the sheriff’s office, said her agency came on board six months ago after receiving a grant.
“We did get Josh’s funding. Sorry. We didn’t know about that before we came on board,” she said.
“Community members dealing with a mental health crisis or substance use disorder, we can help show up on the scene and de-escalate and then really try [to] lean into arrest and jail alternatives with the idea of trying to get these people to treatment rather than jail,” said Burrington.
Two local residents, one of whom lost her daughter to addiction six years ago, spoke about drug houses in the area.
“What I’m wondering is, excuse me, why the hell can’t we run those drug dealers out of our town before they kill all of our children? Another lady just lost her boy over here. Why?” asked one of the residents.
Greg Bland, Recovery Coach Program Manager at Okanogan County Jail, shared his own experience of being arrested and having a drug dependency. He said many addicts don’t have adequate resources once they are released.
“The only house open is the trap house, and that’s the drug house. That can’t be their only option,” he said. “They don’t have anything to change with. So the idea of getting a job is nice, the idea of being clean is nice, but it’s an idea, and that’s all it is. I was there myself.”
Ronda Smeltzer, a peer support counselor at Room One, talked about her work in harm reduction. She provides peer support in Room One on Monday evenings from 5:30-7 pm.
“I have relationships with a lot of people that are in active addiction here in this community, and there isn’t a single one of them that is addicted to fentanyl that wants to stay there. Not a single one,” she said.
Bland talked about the impact mentorship had on his recovery.
“I can remember getting my first job after getting clean and how well people treated me and how that made me feel really good. When I got promoted, and I worked really hard, all these amazing things started happening for me the first year or two in my recovery that made me want to keep going.”
Interim Twisp Police Chief Doug Johnson, who was not a part of the roundtable, shared his thoughts in an interview with MVE. Cuts to law enforcement, he said, pose a significant risk to communities.
“Crime flows like electricity and water. It follows the path of least resistance. If you’re not having consistent policing, you’re going to have a rise in crime,” he said.
“Everybody is late to the game. We saw this coming. Law enforcement told their legislators when they were making these horrible decisions in 2019. Our prophesy came true. I’m hardly surprised by it. We are here because the people in the state of Washington did not take narcotics enforcement seriously.”
When asked what would happen if the county loses its narcotics task force, Johnson responded, “It’s going to be catastrophic. Law enforcement is very limited in rural areas. These are very small departments. They rely heavily on the task force for assistance in narcotics enforcement. Any weakening in our task force is even more magnified in local jurisdictions than in major metropolitan areas.”
“Narcotics and narcotic use is responsible for 60-80 percent of thefts. These are all people that are stealing because it is incredibly difficult to hold a job and be an addict. If you attack the narcotics, you can attack the theft and burglary problem. That’s my enforcement philosophy.”
Johnson said he is supportive of adding housing for people in recovery, as is planned in Twisp by Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington.
“I applaud any addition to housing in the valley. Carving out a certain segment for substance abuse disorders is charitable. I just want people to obey the law.”
Johnson also said he is in favor of Twisp contributing a deputy to the narcotics task force. As Winthop Marshal, Johnson assigned a deputy to the task force two days a week. That deputy opened 10 cases in eight months.
“The dope world is like a sweater. All you have to do is pull on one string and it starts unraveling,” he said. “Once you put in the effort, it can be very successful.
