Grand Coulee's 'Heroin Hill' problem considered

Grand Coulee discussed the scourge of drugs in town at their latest council meeting.

“I think we have a bit of a problem in terms of drug dealing,” Grand Coulee resident and business owner Kimberly Christensen said last week to laughter from a city council already familiar with the problem. “I’ve never been around it, I don’t want to be around it, I don’t want to see it. I’m concerned for everyone.”

Christensen, who also owns the newly opened popcorn stand “The Popcorn Shoppe” on Midway Avenue and Main Street, addressed the city council May 21. She reported what she believes to be drug deals occuring in the parking lot of Coulee Gas, located on the same lot as her popcorn stand, noting a car coming in, meeting with someone, going separate ways, and then the same car coming back 20 minutes later.

Christensen also believes people are “shooting up,” or intravenously injecting drugs, in the gas station bathroom.

A police officer told Christensen that the area behind Coulee Gas is referred to as “Heroin Hill” because of the drug being sold in that area, she said.

“So what do I do?,” Christensen asked. “Is it a budget issue? Can I donate money for it? I’m concerned about where I’m living, where I’m working, what I’m seeing.”

Christensen also said she was concerned about her neighbors being associated with “known drug dealers,” noting that she has installed security cameras because of the concern.

“You’re dealing with the same frustrations we are,” replied Mayor Paul Townsend. “In our system, these are victimless crimes. Our legal system is not taking care of it properly, in my opinion.”

Townsend criticized the “revolving door” policy of county jails.

“[The jails] don’t have room for these people,” Townsend said, “so they come in, slap ’em on the hand, and turn them loose again. They can arrest them every day for this stuff! They get turned right loose again because it’s victimless crimes until something else happens. They break into your house, then it’s not victimless anymore, but it’s too late. Or somebody gets hurt. God only knows, you face the wrong person off, then it does become something else.”

“I wish there was more we could do,” Townsend continued, “but the way our world is going — and it’s not just here, it’s everywhere — all we can do is keep fighting the fight and doing the best we can and stepping up to the plate and doing what we can. That’s all we can do.”

Responding to Christensen’s suggestion that the city place cameras facing the gas station, Townsend explained that, as a public entity, it is complicated to film an area because of the work of blurring out images and providing footage to anyone who requests it, as opposed to private citizens or businesses who can film without having to adhere to those requirements.

“We know your pain,” Townsend said. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time, and how to address places where this is occurring a lot, and we have limited sources to be able to tackle it the way it should be done.”

Last year, the city of Grand Coulee adopted an ordinance reiterating a Washington state law allowing property to be seized for a year when illegal activity routinely occurs at that property as demonstrated by arrests.