By Don Nelson
The Twisp Police Department had a busier 2017 compared to 2016, Police Chief Paul Budrow reported to the Town Council last week.
“In 2016 we logged 690 reported incidents compared to 898 in 2017,” Budrow said in a memo to the council. “Much of this can be attributed to a new full-time officer and a reliable reserve officer. At the end of 2017 we acquired a second reserve officer as well.”
Twisp now has three full-time officers.
One area with a noteworthy increase: officers wrote 106 citations in 2017 compared to 40 in 2016. Burglaries were up from 10 in 2017 to 15 in 2017, Budrow reported, while car prowl reports went from 29 to 35. Assaults were about the same — 18 in 2016, 17 in 2017 — while trespassing complaints rose from 13 to 35.
Agency assistance calls for Winthrop went from 18 in 2016 to 47 in 2017. For much of 2017, Winthrop had little or no police protection from the Marshal’s Office. Winthrop now has two full-time officers and is expected to hire a third one soon.
In other business:
• Sam Israel was appointed to the town’s Planning Commission.
• The council discussed the need to find a safer stop for the TranGO transit bus that serves Twisp. Budrow said too many people are crossing Highway 20, under potentially dangerous conditions, to get to the stop. Public Works Director Andrew Denham said he will talk to TranGO officials about the issue.
• Council member Ashley Thrasher reported on the first meeting of the Twisp Economic Revitalization Committee, a nine-member ad hoc group that is charged with developing long-term goals to improve and sustain the town’s economic health. Mayor Soo Ing-Moody said the group will focus on project priorities, funding possibilities, and possible collaborations and partnerships.
Check out the new civic building
Get a look at preliminary plans for the Town of Twisp’s new civic building at a meeting on Thursday (March 22) at the Twisp Valley Grange. The event starts at 7 p.m. For information, call 997-4081.
