Bellevue Council Considers Police Request for Anti-Loitering Law

The Bellevue City Council will consider passing an anti-loitering law aimed at people who appear to be dealing drugs, one month after the asked for more tools to investigate possible drug deals the Crossroads and Factoria neighborhoods.

The proposed law cites criteria that would allow officers to stop and arrest people based on certain actions that could be related to drug-dealing actvity. These include being a known drug dealer, running from police, and passing small objects to another person.

The city council considered passing the ordinance Monday, but Bellevue Councilman Kevin Wallace asked for a week's delay in order to learn more about the proposal.

Wallace wondered why the loitering ordinance is necessary, when police already can investigate people on suspicion of drug-related felonies, such as dealing and possessing drugs.

"It's just difficult to understand what this is adding to what you already have," he said. "If you have probable cause to search someone in possession of drugs, you're just saying you want to have a gross misdemeanor to go with the search?"

Councilwoman Jennifer Robertson said the proposed law would give officers a lower threshold to arrest and investigate people who appear to be dealing drugs. She said that drug dealers and users would be caught when they are searched upon arrest on suspicion of drug-related loitering.

"This is a lesser crime--there are very specific elements--we can then arrest people for," Robertson said. "We can search incident to arrest because of this."

The Bellevue Police Department last month came to the council at a meeting seeking a new ordinance to create a gross misdemeanor for "loitering with the intent of engaging in drug-related activity."

Bellevue police department legal advisor Kyle Aiken said the problem is illegal drug trafficking on the streets in areas in Crossroads and Factoria, where "known drug dealers" hang out on public sidewalks, hold conversations with other people while Bellevue police officers watch, and then step out of view--where a drug sale may be taking place.

The new law would allow police to arrest someone for some of these actions which currently aren't illegal. The criteria under the proposed law include:

• Being a known drug dealer or hanging out with a known drug dealer
• Running from police officers
• Transfering small objects to other people in a "furtive fashion"
• Being a member of a gang that deals in illegal actvity
• Hanging out in an area known for a high level of drug trafficking.

Officer Jim Keene told council members last month that while social conversations often yield evidence and help investigations when the suspects are in middle and high school, it is a less-effective tactic as supects get older and more experienced, with some building lengthy criminal records.

"They know what they can say, what they can’t say, when they canwalk away, when they can’t walk away. Now with new case law, it’s harder to be proactive police officers and use that as a tool," Keene told the council in May.

Keene said that apartment managers, business owners and residents often ask why the police cannot investigate people who are known to have dealt drugs in the past.

Councilman Conrad Lee said Monday that he was comfortable that the law would not be abused by the Bellevue Police Department.

"I had some concerns before about the looseness of the language. If it's not applied properly, maybe in other jurisdictions, maybe I would have some real concerns. I feel strongly that Bellevue police officers and our poliec department have always acted with complete propriety and integrity. What they are looking for is more tools," Lee said. "If it's abused, we have the opportunity to correct it."

Councilman Grant Degginger asked Aiken and Deputy Police Chief Cherie Baker how officers determine how a person is acting in a "furtive fashion."

"They are doing a handshake or some other maneuver where they are selling, transferring the money or drugs," Baker answered.

Aiken told the council last month that the ordinance is based on a similar Tacoma ordinance that was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 1992.

The law would be enacted 30 days after approval.