Whatcom county is undoubtedly suffering from a crime and drug crisis that has grown completely out of control. 

Calculations based off Whatcom medical examiner reports show that the overdose death rate has increased faster than possibly any other city in the US. In a matter of 5 years, Bellingham went from being nearly half of the state average, to over double the state average on this scale. This equates to a death every 4.5 days for the last 5 years.

Lack of available treatment combined with lack of jail space has exacerbated this crisis, with a rise of criminals coming here because they simply can't be put in custody. These criminals also prey on our homeless population, taking advantage of this vulnerable population via drugs. At least 282 homeless have died almost exclusively to drug use these last five years, roughly 25% of that population.

Based off Forbes retail crime index, showing average retail theft in Washington state being at $347 per resident, our retail stores suffer over 80 million dollars a year in theft losses.

There is no accurate estimates on the damages done to our natural habitats, but it is easy to see that homeless encampments continue to devastate every piece of nature they move to.

We are petitioning to push Satpal Sidhu and the Whatcom County Council to enact an emergency declaration to regain control of this crisis by calling on the state chapter of the national guard to assist in providing a temporary low-barrier "campground" or possibly portable buildings to remove homeless camps out of private properties and natural lands and into an environment where services can more effectively reach them, while simultaneously providing means to have an interim jail facility set up and online to handle the criminal element and restore regular booking practices.

This can also possibly be implemented to assist in streamlining and fasttracking construction of the new justice center project. Currently we are 3 to 5 years from completion on this. We can not let this continue for years. We need this under control now. If applied properly, streamlining may possibly have this project complete in under 2 years.

I heavily stress that this is a temporary solution to relieve our community of this crisis, this is not about simply arresting people for being homeless. This is about the well being and safety of all members of our community. Thank you