Blotter January 22 thru February 4, 2022
January 22
22000047: 11 AM, N 5th Way, Vehicle Prowl, Two subjects tried to enter two parked vehicles. Entry was not gained. No suspect information. Closed.
22000048: 11:41 AM, S Hillhurst Rd, Found, Firearm found hidden in the common area of a drug re-hab facility. Owner unknown. Closed.
22000049: 3:17 PM, S Hillhurst Rd, Indecent Exposure, Unknown person followed a jogger and exposed his genitals/pleasured himself in the presence of the female jogger. Suspect is unknown at this time and follow-up to be conducted. Closed.
22000050: 10:49 PM, S 65th Ave, Theft, Juvenile stole beer from 7-Eleven. Juvenile was recognized by customers in the store as a local high school student. Awaiting video footage. Closed.
22000054: 11 AM, N 5th Way, Vehicle Prowl, Two subjects entered the victim's vehicle but did not take anything. A neighbor's security camera captured the subjects on video but due to video quality they cannot be identified. Closed.
22000055, 11 AM, N 5th Way, Vehicle Prowl, Unknown subjects entered the victims vehicle and stole his wallet. The victim's credit card was later used for online transactions. Video of the suspects was obtained, but due to video quality, identification was not possible. Closed.
January 23
22000051: 10:36 PM, Pioneer St, Warrant, Initiated a traffic stop due to expired tabs. Driver gave multiple different false names and dates of birth. Driver was arrested and transported to CCSO jail. At the jail, driver was identified as an individual with multiple felony warrants. Driver was booked on warrants and cited for misdemeanor violations. Closed by Arrest/Citation.
January 24
22000052: 10:58 AM, S Coho Pl, Impound, Warning notices placed on vehicle several times for over time parking, out of state plates, and expired registration over past 45 days. Vehicle impounded as a result of non-compliance. Closed.
22000053: 7:46 AM, Ridgefield, Trespass, Report of a student trying to get onto a bus that he was expelled from. Further report of bus driver assaulting the same student on a previous day. Video proved no assault occurred. Parent informed the student is trespassed from the bus by KWRL and subject to arrest if he gets on the bus in the future. closed.
22000056: 12:01 PM, S Settler Dr, Restrain/Protect Order, On January 24, 2022, officer responded to the Acero Apartments on a man wanting to see his son, who is supposed to be living at the Acero with his maternal grandmother. The officer learned the son was not at the Acero with grandma, but was with his mother. The son had been with the grandmother the previous evening. The grandmother and mother may have had contact to exchange the custody of the son, which would be a violation of a protection order. CPS notified of investigation. There is no PC for arrest at the time of this report. Closed.
January 26
22000057: 3:26 PM, S 11th St, Theft, Catalytic converter stolen from Class C Winnebago RV while it was parked at NW Self Storage. Incident likely linked to case 22000039 and the burglary aspect of this case has already been investigated and documented. Limited suspect information at this time. Closed.
22000064: 1:57 PM, N 5th Way, Vehicle Prowl. Cold vehicle prowl. Nothing taken. Related to earlier vehicle prowls. Closed.
January 27
22000060: 12:45 AM, Domestic Violence Info, Suspicious circumstance call led to female being issued domestic violence resources. Closed.
22000061: 8:04 AM, Pioneer St, Traffic Collision, Single vehicle, non-injury roll over traffic collision. Driver cited for 'Speed too fast for conditions'. Vehicle towed at owner request. Closed.
22000062: 10:22 AM, N Main Ave, MalMisch, Unknown suspect damaged the taillight on a vehicle. No suspect info. Closed.
22000063: 1:59 PM, N 9th St, Fraud, Reporting person was contacted by phone scammers who claimed to be from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Scammers said the person owed money for an impounded vehicle. The person provided scammers with personal information but cancelled the transaction prior to sending any money. Closed.
January 30
22000066: 8:05 AM, Pioneer Street, Mental Assist, Officer served a resident of the Ridgefield Living Center with a Clark County protection order. Officer documented service and flagged the resident for future police contacts. Closed.
January 31
22000067: 2:35 AM, Domestic Violence Info, S Royle Rd, Sisters argued over a sex scene in a movie while one sister's daughter was present. One decided to go to the Red Lion for the night. Verbal only. Closed.
22000068: 8:26 AM, N 65th Ave, Theft, Woman reported her soon to be ex-husband stole her phone from her and may be trying to sell it. Husband denied the theft but admitted the phone does belong solely to the female. During the investigation the officer developed a probable cause to arrest the male for trafficking in stolen property and theft 2. He is on camera having someone else sell the phone to EcoATM in Redmond, Oregon for $330.00. Male has not been arrested as of February 3, 2022. Open.
22000069: 9:19 AM, Pioneer St, Threats/Harassment, A man entered a woman's place of employment, which is also an elementary school, and caused the woman to fear for her safety, well-being, and life more generally. The man was issued a written trespass notice, which he disagreed with, and was clearly not happy about. Closed.
22000070: 4:11 PM, Pioneer St, Traffic Collision, Traffic collision caused by one driver failing to remain stopped at a stop sign. Driver causing crash said the sun was in her eyes and she did not see the other vehicle in the road. Closed.
February 1
22000071: 9:01 AM, S 11th St, Burglary, Boat motor was stolen off of a boat parked inside the NW Self Storage secure lot sometime in January. No suspect info. Closed.
22000072: 2:42 PM, N 3rd Way, Info, A man found a handgun in his safe he forgot he had. He removed it from the safe not realizing it was loaded and accidentally shot his own finger. He went to the hospital for treatment. The officer did a welfare check on him, his wife, his home, and his neighbors. Bullet was contained in the bathroom and no one else was injured. The man has no criminal history and no violent history in Clark County. Info report written.
22000073: 4:07 PM, Division St, Civil, Biological mother of 15 year-old went to pick up son and girlfriend of deceased biological father was refusing to allow the 15 year-old to leave with biological mother. Closed. (Apologies. I can't work out what happened so I just wrote it as it appeared on the blotter provided.)
22000074: 5:17 PM, S Hillhurst Rd, Traffic Collision, Ridgefield Middle School, A hearing impaired woman put her vehicle in reverse and did not see the car behind her nor hear the car's horn. The officer assisted with exchanging information for damage which appear to be under $1,000. closed.
22000075 6:20 PM, S 14th Place, Fire Investigation, Vehicle fire. Informational report. No injuries. Closed.
22000076: 8:58 PM, Traffic Collision, Vehicle was observed driving recklessly and was observed by motorists dash-cam driving recklessly as well. The vehicle crashed into a fence. The driver was cited for reckless driving. Closed.
22000081: 9:53 AM, Pioneer St, Impound, Agandoned vehicle left on city easement for several years. Vehicle towed after unsuccessful contact with the owner. Closed.
February 2
22000077: 5:48 PM, CPS, Mother and 12 year-old daughter allegedly yelling and pushing each other. According to the report the mother thinks she is parenting, but the mother really needs some counseling and training. Referred to CPS. Closed.
February 3
2200078: 2:56 AM, Pioneer Street, DUI, The officer observed a vehicle driving too fast for road conditions and initiated a traffic stop. The officer discovered that the driver was impaired after a DUI investigation. Driver was cited and released for DUI and Speeding too Fast for Conditions. Closed. (Note that the stark increase in crime means the county jail is over full and crimes of this nature may sometimes be met with citation and release rather than arrest as a consequence).
February 4
22000079: 10:19 PM, CPS, CPS referral regarding mother who allegedly grabbed child by the neck because the child would not wake up for school. Screened out by CPS. The officer did a welfare check and found nothing concerning. The child has special needs and this referral may be a miscommunication. Closed.
As yet no information for Ridgefield Police Department Cases, 22000003, 22000046, 22000058, 22000059, 22000064, 22000065, 22000080. Most likely, these cases are still under active investigation.
I made an attempt to circumvent the City of Ridgefield's censorship by asking the Sheriff's Office for booking records of all suspects brought in by the Ridgefield Police Department, but the Sheriff's Office is trying very hard to keep that information from you. Instead of complying with the INTENT of the Public Records Act, the Sheriff's Office sent a very long list of bookings, generally, with half addresses, and no City information.
Becoming frustrated with the bureaucrats I contacted the The Clark County Prosecutor's Office. But they even went so far as to claim that they have, really, literally, "no addresses" of the people that they are prosecuting.
I did request a blotter from the Clark County Sheriff's Office.
Below is a photo of just a small part of their reply for January 15 thru January 21, 2022. I asked for records including all of the Unincorporated area of Ridgefield as well as the City of Ridgefield.
The Sheriff's Office sent a blotter that includes reports from all over Clark County and informed me that if I want more specific information I'll be charged for the privilege.
Also, the Sheriff's office completely blocked out some cases, including even the case numbers.
You can't even know the case number. You're not allowed that information. Not even the number of the case, let alone any general, anonymous information about what happened in your community.
I can only assume that this is because they don't want these cases tracked for some reason. Why? Who knows.
Which brings me back to the City of Ridgefield.
Washington's Public Records Act used to be pretty robust, but a succession of judge's rulings, legal findings, and self-serving political moves have gutted it. Now, local administrators like our City's, can literally block out pretty much anything they want from public knowledge. This is because they can define what is either too embarrassing or too trivial to include everything.
Let me be clear, the City of Ridgefield has decided that every single interaction the Ridgefield police have with the public is either too embarrassing to disclose or too trivial to bother the good citizens with such that the City now blocks, at the whim of bureaucrats and under the aegis of elected officials, every name and every address of everyone who shows up on a police report--yes, even the perpetrators of sex offenses in closed cases.
Frankly, it's disgusting and a derogation of the City's duty. It is just another auto-destructive component in our determinist legal system. But, I digress.
If we assume that these cases that the Clark County Sheriff's office has blocked from public scrutiny are the worst, the sexual abuse of children, perhaps your initial response to the Sheriff's censorship is one of understanding. Like, we need to respect the victims.
But this policy condones the culture of shaming and does nothing but add blame to the victim's experience. Hiding this information only bolsters the culture of shame that keeps victims from speaking out.
Also, censorship of these types of crimes does nothing to inform the public of the prevalence of them and makes it harder for positive community change to come about.
Of course, the Sheriff's Office may be completely blocking out any trackable information for these cases for other reasons, maybe they are cases involving national security? Who knows.
I should be clear, though, that the City of Ridgefield determines what is released by the Ridgefield Police Department by policy. The Ridgefield Police Department may wish they could be much more informative, for all I know. I have no idea. But, I want to be clear, I'm not blaming the RPD for any of this. It all lands firmly at the feet of the City.
I have no idea who makes the policy at the Sheriff's office. But secrecy is the wrong choice and bad for democracy.
An irony of these efforts of mine is that I never would have released names and addresses, anyway. But, the unnecessarily defensive response from the City to me, a member of the public, wanting to do nothing more than to inform my fellow Ridgefieldians about the work their officers are doing in the community has only driven me to ask more and more questions.
