PASCO, Wash.–The Pasco Police Department and local business owners came together Wednesday for a semi-annual Business Watch meeting meant to collaborate on how to make the city safer.
The Business Watch hopes to bring awareness to community business owners with the goal of reducing crime across the city, and are doing so by holding quarterly meetings and trainings.
Pasco Police Patrol Lieutenant Chat Pettijohn said the Business Watch is meant to open discussions between the police department and the 50 participating businesses.
“Please bring us your problems. Tell us what you’re seeing in the city so that we can help solve them,” he said. “We get concerns, everything from crime to public works, code enforcement questions and signage questions…We just try to find ways to solve those problems for our business owners to help them out.”
Pettijohn said the most important piece of the December meeting was the gangs and drug training because people were able to learn the signs of certain issues so they can report them when they happen.
Trespassing is a big concern of Pasco business owners as well, specifically during the hours people shouldn’t be there, he said.
“It’s good that I get that information because I can deploy the patrol officers to show up at those times and help keep that business clear of any of that unwanted attention,” he said.
The Business Watch meetings is a recurring spot for Janice Hastings, who is the Columbia Basin Paper owner. She sopes by attending, she can contribute to the conversation on issues throughout the community, such as the growing homeless population.
“Over the year, we’ve been able to learn about what we can do when there’s a homeless individual or (how) we should handle it, and the options that are available to us to help the officers do a better job for our community,” she said. “If I’m communicating with the officers, then they’re comfortable enough to come and communicate with us and it benefits everyone.”
Hastings is one of many business owners who have made it clear they aren’t fans of the downtown Pasco crime rates, which is why she believes making her voice heard at meetings like this one is so important.
“We’ve had great meetings. Code enforcement has been there to tell us what to do and what not to do and how to do it and what they do,” she said. “It’s just an information gathering . And that’s what’s important.”
