Small town in Snohomish County seeing rise in big city crime

Snohomish Police note increase in theft-related criminal activity

A small town is seeing a rise in big city crime based on an annual crime report.

SNOHOMISH, Wash. - A small town is seeing a rise in big city crime. The City of Snohomish just released its annual report on criminal activity in 2020. Compared to years past, the police department is reporting an increase in commercial burglaries, vehicle thefts, and car prowling.

Half of the theft calls were from the Snohomish Station shopping center where a Kohl’s and Bridges Pets, Gifts & Water Gardens stores are.

"He kind of circles around the aisles a couple times, comes back, grabs a bunch of it and puts it right in his pocket," said manager Colton Smith.

Smith showed Q13 News surveillance video of a shoplifting incident from December. The man who was caught stealing on camera was arrested later arrested in January.

Smith said he has a good working relationship with Snohomish Police and monitors surveillance videos to report shoplifting incidents.

"It’s kind of plateaued I would say for us anyway because we’re on it pretty much 24/7. We have cameras all around the store recording everything," said Smith.

While some of the retailers may have a good handle on the criminal activity, Snohomish Police reported a sharp rise of vehicle break-ins from 43 in 2019 to 71 in 2020.

Commercial burglaries were increased to 48 in 2020 compared to 33 in 2019.

During the virtual town hall on Tuesday night, Chief Rob Palmer said the increase in crime could be due to economic factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Active patrolling at night certainly and a priority to commercial businesses that aren’t open during nighttime hours that can be easy targets for break-ins and thefts," said Chief Palmer.

Snohomish Police also discussed the six pillars of community policing in the 21st century. These include building trust a legitimacy, policy and oversight, technology and social media, community policing and crime reduction, training and education and officer wellness and safety.