For the most updated report of police activity related to Tent City on Mercer Island please click here. 

Annual crime statistic report 

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At the July 21, 2008 council meeting, a Mercer Island citizen presented two reports of crime statistics related to Tent City, one from Kirkland and the other from Issaquah.  Mercer Island Police Chief Ed Holmes reviewed the two reports and checked again with the police departments of Kirkland and Issaquah.

The crime statistics from Kirkland appear to be close to the data that was previously provided to the City of Mercer Island by the Kirkland Police Department, and are fairly consistent with the data in the chart presented to Council on June 16.  At first glance, the crime statistics from Issaquah appear different than the data originally provided by the Issaquah Police Department to the City of Mercer Island.  Chief Holmes was previously told that there were only two incidents (arrests) for warrants.  It appears there were actually three arrests, with the third being for a Threats case.  The Issaquah Police Chief stated that the statistics appeared correct, but stated that he really did not consider non-extraditable warrants or unwanted subjects to be “police incidents.”  In reviewing the Issaquah statistics, most of the incidents fall into these categories which explains why he did not include them in his original summary. 

When the Mercer Island Police contact a subject who has a non-extraditable warrant, they do not draw a case report on the incident unless there are other suspicious or criminal activities associated with the subject.  Non-extraditable warrants are typically associated with lower-level misdemeanor incidents.  Mercer Island averages nearly 100 warrant arrests each year, with roughly 15% of these being felony warrants.  Issaquah is likely to be comparable in the total number of warrant arrests and therefore, since Issaquah made two warrant arrests and one arrest for a Threats case related to Tent City, Tent City is characterized a non-issue.  Even with the addition of the six non-extraditable warrants and the seven unwanted subjects, the Issaquah Chief stated that Tent City 4 was not a drain on their resources.  He indicated that the only way he really knew Tent City 4 was in Issaquah was because he would see some of the residents walking to and from the bus stop. 

In general, finding subjects with outstanding warrants and/or Sex Offender status is not an uncommon occurrence for patrol officers regardless of where they work.  It is also fairly common to make arrests for a variety of crimes, from misdemeanor property crimes to crimes against persons.  Mercer Island averages about 350 arrests each year, and other Eastside cities make many more.  In the cities where Tent City 4 has recently resided, Tent City 4 generated an average of approximately 6 arrests per 3-month visit (or two per month).  This is why the Police Chiefs have characterized Tent City 4 as a non-event. 

Additionally, Chief Holmes double checked citizen concerns about warrant checks and found that the data does not conclusively show that Tent City does a poor job of screening their residents. Though most warrants are discovered through the initial check, because of the way courts work, it is possible that a warrant could be issued to the subject after he or she checked into Tent City. 

If Mercer Island’s experience with Tent City 4 is similar to that of the other cities who have recently hosted Tent City 4, Mercer Island will not experience a spike in crime, nor will Mercer Island find Tent City 4 to be a drain on police resources.  However, this does not mean that the City of Mercer Island takes citizens concerns lightly.  The Mercer Island Police Department will be vigilant in their efforts to protect citizens and their families.  The First Hill neighborhood will be one of their top priorities during the Tent City stay.

Tent City Related Incidents - Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland 

For the most updated report of police activity related to Tent City on Mercer Island, please click here. 

For more information, please contact Detective Pete Erickson at pete.erickson@mercergov.org.

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