Kent to adopt new laws to combat graffiti; public drug use

Kent city leaders will adopt new laws in an effort to reduce graffiti, public drug use and the number of people who solicit drivers of vehicles along main streets.

The City Council at its Aug. 17 Operations and Public Safety Committee meeting unanimously approved ordinances to:

• Ban the sale of aerosol paint containers to anyone 18 and younger

• Prohibit the unlawful use of dangerous drugs in public places

• Prohibit people from approaching occupants of vehicles to get them to donate money

Mayor Dana Ralph told the council prior to its votes on the three measures that her administration, city legal staff and police leaders met to come up with the new laws.

“The most common phone call we take and emails we receive are from residents and business owners around crime,” Ralph said. “There’s been a frustration about our lack of ability to do anything, and that’s not acceptable to residents or businesses.”

Ralph hopes the new laws will make a difference.

“These are potential solutions or tools for our police department and our court to help people to not commit some of these crimes and have some accountability,” Ralph said.

The council also heard from the city’s chief prosecutor about a program to reduce the number of repeat offenders in the system.

Ralph asked the seven-member council for its help to fight crime.

“I want you to consider these ordinances to help our community be safer and more welcoming for residents and business owners in this current time because things are a little bit crazy,” Ralph said.

While the committee approved the new ordinances, the full council will vote on the measures Sept. 6 on its consent calendar, when no discussion of the item will occur. The measures will become effective 30 days later, except the ban on aerosol paint containers that will go into effect in about six months to give businesses time to prepare for the new law.

Paint can sale ban

Cities across the nation spend an estimated $12 billion per year to clean up graffiti, said Tammy White, then-acting city attorney, during her presentation to the council. She said studies have shown the majority of offenders are males between the ages of 12 and 19.

In 2021, the city’s Public Works Department had 268 complaints of graffiti to be removed from public facilities. Since 2008, the police department has taken 700 cases of complaints involving graffiti, White said. Officers were only able to arrest 14 people (seven of them juveniles) in all those cases because of the challenge to catch anyone in the act of spraying graffiti that can lead to an arrest for malicious mischief under state law.

“We needed to think up creative solutions, so we looked at the restrictions of the sale of spray paint,” White said.

Nobody under 19 will be able to buy spray paint and businesses must verify the age of the person who is buying the product. Businesses will not be allowed to display spray paint where customers can get it on their own. White said that will curtail shoplifting and make sure customers are old enough to buy the paint.

“Businesses will have to put it behind a counter, display it in a locked cabinet, and the public can’t get access without the assistance of an employee,” White said.

City staff expects most businesses to comply with the new law. Business owners will get six months to prepare for the new law. If businesses don’t comply, they will be subject to fines by the city that will start at $50 and go up with more violations.

“We expect most will want to comply,” White said. “They suffer graffiti to their property.”

Councilmember Marli Larimer asked White what will stop those under 19 from going to neighboring cities to buy spray paint. Larimer wondered if other cities are looking at similar bans.

“I don’t know if they are considering it,” White said. “We hope they will follow suit and that we will be a trendsetter and they will adopt it as well.”

Property owners with facilities damaged by graffiti can file civil suit against the parents of juvenile offenders and against adults who commit street gang tagging and graffiti. White said state law allows such civil suits up to $5,000 against parents for repairs and the city revised its ordinance to help make people aware of that law.

Council President Bill Boyce said he favored making the paint spray can ban to those under age 21 rather than 19. But the council majority was fine with under 19 because they said people 19 or older might need to purchase spray paint (such as college students for art classes) and might not have a parent or older adult who could purchase it for them.

Public drug use ban

“This will make it unlawful to use drugs in public,” White said.

White said Kent and other cities are seeing drug use happening out in the open more than in the past.

“Part of it is the change in state law that makes it more difficult to enforce,” White said. “The state (Legislature) has limited law enforcement’s ability to arrest someone if they are using drugs in public. Officers have to provide them with referral of services. But under the law, officers can’t command them to identify themselves. …before they can arrest someone they must have been referred at least twice to services.”

White said the Legislature was well intended to help connect people to services for drug treatment. But she said the city needs a criminal case before drug treatment could be required.

“The goal of officers and the court is to get addicts connected to treatment, but unless we have the threat of jail we cannot force that on them,” White said.

Under the new law, Kent Police officers will be able to arrest someone using drugs in public places or someone who throws drugs on the ground in a public spot. The law targets controlled substances such as methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl. The crime will be considered a misdemeanor subject to a fine and jail time.

State law prohibits the use in public of alcohol or cannabis, which are both legal, but there is no state law that prohibits the use of controlled substances, according to city documents.

The Kent Municipal Court has a community court program that helps people get connected with services to break their drug habit. Individuals arrested for using drugs in public could be eligible for that program.

Vehicle solicitation ban

There’s been a problem throughout the city with people standing in medians or walking up to cars that are stopped at traffic signals and asking occupants of the vehicles for money, White said.

White said it’s a public safety issue to protect the people walking out to vehicles as well as drivers who might swerve to miss an individual and hit somebody else. White said the city of Des Moines and Pierce County have similar ordinances to Kent’s proposal.

It prohibits being in a median or walking in a lane and would be a misdemeanor. The law applies to streets that have a centerline and not residential streets or freeway off-ramps.

“An officer will talk to them and ask them to move along,” White said about enforcement. “We do not expect arrests under this.”

It’s been a problem along Willis Street, James Street and Central Avenue where individuals walk up to vehicles and in the traffic lanes, White said.

The law would not apply to emergency response personnel, construction workers or people hailing a taxi or ride share vehicle.

Boyce said he received a call from a resident who almost hit a woman who ran out into the street trying to collect money for a baby that she was holding a picture of.

“I had the same thing,” Boyce said. “They were running across the street back and forth. It’s very dangerous and only a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed. It’s a public safety issue.”

City prosecutor’s plan

City Chief Prosecutor Michelle Walker told the council her office plans to implement in the coming weeks a priority prosecution program that focuses on reducing the number of repeat offenders.

Walker said it would focus on the prosecution of the most impactful defenders to hold them responsible for their behavior and help get them, if necessary, into mental health or substance abuse programs.

“We can’t jail our way out of this issue. …that’s not our intention,” Walker said. “We are trying to get at core issues when we are able to and help people address those issues.”

Walker said her office has six prosecutors and three paralegals to handle misdemeanor cases in Kent Municipal Court. She said in July the office had 236 criminal cases referred to it by officers, with some cases including more than one charge.

The focus will be on those who commit crimes such as theft, vehicle prowl and malicious mischief property crimes. Prosecutors will look at the defendant’s number of offenses in the previous two years.

“We will focus on those whose criminal behavior has a higher impact on the community and work with police to identify those defendants,” Walker said.

Prosecutors will work with defense attorneys to get their clients to engage in treatment for mental health or substance abuse or else face a longer jail sentence.

“We hope to reduce reoffense by particular defendants,” Walker said.