Oak Harbor police report stepped-up drug enforcement, cite booking policy shift to improve officer safety

Chief Slowick updated the Police Community Advisory Board on July 1 about drug-enforcement activity and a departmental booking policy change. He said Oak Harbor recently placed an officer on a regional drug task force and has seen increased enforcement results, but training to reach full capability will take time. "That person's going to take two years to get trained up in doing their job," he said of new task-force staffing.

The chief referenced a recent arrest tied to a child's death that also had links to drug dealing and firearms; regional partners assisted with the search warrant. He said the department is using tools such as fentanyl-detection dogs and reported officers have made several arrests in a local commercial corridor that the department designated as a "stay out of drug area."

Members asked what constitutes probable cause for a drug arrest. Slowick explained many drug arrests occur after officers take someone into custody for another violation (for example, trespass or an outstanding warrant) or after observing open drug use; taking people to the station and booking them allows searches incident to arrest and creates a record of the arrest even if charges are later deferred or dismissed. "We went back to making taking people physically in custody, which is not a mandate, but we allow them to do that," he said, and added the department decided that shift in part because officers had shown declining control skills when physical custody was not used.

Slowick said the department will provide an annual report to the city council in August with enforcement numbers and follow-up details; CAB did not vote on enforcement policy changes at the meeting.