Kent P.D. is part of a multi-agency task force, including police departments all around the Puget Sound area, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, which announced a series of arrests and raids last week under the DEA moniker “Green Reaper.” The multiple arrests and the DEA press conference received quite a bit of coverage, and recounted the long-term investigation which involved the fraudulent purchase of over 400 Seattle-area homes to use as marijuana grow houses.
Some of the coverage, and response from citizens, has also centered on the idea that the police must have better things to do than go after people growing marijuana, a drug that many in our society feel should be legalized, or at least not be a focus of enforcement. The question of whether this is appropriate use of resources is one that deserves to be answered.
This comprehensive investigation sought to put a significant dent in a specific, coordinated enterprise in which organized groups purchased homes with allegedly fraudulent records, related to the well-known sub-prime mortgage mess, to obtain title to homes, mostly in middle and upper-middle class neighborhoods. Large-scale grow operations were moved in, using affiliated garden supply operations for the lighting, supplies and electricity needed to cultivate the plants.
The fact that these were set up in neighborhoods is exactly why this case is worthwhile. In Kent, as in many jurisdictions, our local law-enforcement focus is on supporting strong, connected, safe neighborhoods. Cities around this area had these groups moving into areas in which they were conducting an organized criminal enterprise, trashing the homes and the yards, and then abandoning the houses or having them seized through the justice system. This dynamic produced two very negative outcomes for neighborhoods: the introduction of professional, systemic criminal organizations, and a message that this was tolerated in that area. The insidious outcomes are obvious. This investigation, and the dedication of police resources to fighting it, was all about neighborhood livability and sending a message that large-scale criminal activity is unacceptable.
This is not about small-scale use of marijuana by individuals. If we want to have a debate about regulating or otherwise changing our legal focus on marijuana, let’s have that debate. We ask only that we make laws that are supported and enforced. The “Green Reaper” case is about neighborhoods and public safety, not individual use. Let’s keep our focus on the big picture, rather than getting distracted by potentially worthwhile but unrelated debate about personal use of marijuana. Law enforcement should absolutely go after large-scale criminal enterprises, and I want to thank the DEA for partnering with local agencies to improve our neighborhoods.
Steve Strachan is Kent’s chief of police.
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