Pasco PD Nabs 16 Public Drug Users in Just 2 Hours

Until the state's public drug use law was modified, many officers were not able to arrest people for public drug use. But now that has changed.

Pasco PD nails 16 offenders in two hours this week

During a sweep operation in cooperation with other agencies in our area, officers arrested 16 people who were seen opening possessing, or using drugs, many of them in public parks.

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Previously, the law prohibited officers from making arrests, but now public drug use is a gross misdemeanor, and they can finally be arrested and jailed. Pasco PD said:

"In the past, due to legislative constraints, our officers were limited to providing resource information when encountering people using drugs in public areas, which unfortunately proved ineffective. The consequences were evident in our communities. Pasco officers have responded to 25 overdose calls since June, pushing our overdose death toll to 10 this year so far."

Richland has seen similar success, as soon as the public drug laws were modified, officers made at least 3 arrests in less than 24 hours in Richland public parks.