Everett seeks balance between homeless in cars and frustrated residents

Everett police are negotiating a fine line between catering to the needs of residents and the adjacent homeless living in their cars. The prosecutor for the City of Everett instructed police to exercise caution for those with people living in them. This follows a King County ruling that a vehicle can be considered a home.

“Where is that line between compassion and enforcing the law?,” KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neill wondered.

Aaron Snell of the Everett Police Department deals with that line every day. He explained how officers are adapting to the new rules.

“There’s a balance between what people need and what we can do for them. There’s a lot of people out there with a lot of needs, including mental health and addictions,” Snell told Ron and Don.

RELATED: Everett police told to be cautious when enforcing parking laws

“Are we going to compound that by taking their car away because it’s parked illegally and they have nowhere else to go? But on the flip side: where do we end up with the enforcement part of it?”

As it stands, the city only tows a lived-in vehicle if the person refuses services, if they’re causing negative ripples in the immediate area, and if there’s criminal activity linked to the vehicle. The 2017 Point-in-Time Count found 1,066 people without a home living in Snohomish County. Of the homeless, 34 percent lived in their vehicle.

Searching for a long-term solution instead of towing in Everett

Snell is hoping to look beyond slapping red tags on cars and towing them after 72 hours. He wants to address the long-term problem and hopes that by doing so, both residents and homeless will have their needs met.

“The homeowners are rightly frustrated at times,” Snell said. “But what they don’t see sometimes is that behind the scenes we’re actually working with these families to find an alternative.”

“There’s a lot of people out there in their vehicles for reasons that really aren’t their fault … We want to see if we can help them out and maybe get them off the road.”