By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – No one requires police officers to use their own money to help someone out with a random act of kindness during the performance of their duties, but it happens more often than any of us will ever hear about.
Now there’s a non-profit that provides law enforcement organizations with debit cards that officers can use for just that kind of outreach when it’s deemed appropriate.
BlueBridge Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit program whose goal is to provide immediate short-term assistance to vulnerable citizens in critical need of resources such as food, shelter, clothing, fuel, auto repairs, and transportation. The Port Angeles City Council gave its approval on Tuesday for the Police Department to participate in the program.
Police Chief Brian Smith describes a scenario where an officer has been able to change someone’s situation with a few dollars and why this program can make a big difference in people’s lives.
“That’s happened before, where our social workers, our officers, are trying to get someone off the street, and logistically things don’t work out. And if we had the ability to fill up the tank with gas or get the battery fixed or whatever it is that’s the barrier, then the person succeeds with what they’re working on. The idea of officers doing it is not new, and we have organizations all over the peninsula that provide people services. But getting that, say, available funding dispersed in the moment is sometimes complicated. And, you have to actually have a mechanism to do it the way that BlueBridge set up. You know, obviously the officers feel good, and the person feels good, and it’s it’s a win-win for everybody.”
That “win-win for everybody” Chief Smith spoke of includes the taxpayer. A pilot program that included the police departments in Kent, Wenatchee, Moses Lake and other cities had remarkable success. In fact, the Commerce Department’s 2023 report to the Legislature indicated that “Officers participating in the BlueBridge program identified 74 incidents, including 46 felonies and 28 misdemeanors, that were prevented or averted by the aid, saving taxpayers and the criminal justice system an estimated $2.5 million.”
Chief Smith says it’s a first-come-first-served program for cities that sign the contract with BlueBridge, but he’s confident his officers will be participating, though an exact date for receiving the funds has not been set.
Click here if you would like to contribute to the Port Angeles BlueBridge program.
(Pictured, left to right, Deputy Chief Jason Viada, Sgt. Dave Arand, Officer-of-the-Year Whitney Fairbanks, Det. Kyle Cooper and Police Chief Brian Smith)