Pierce County Sheriff ’s Deputy Nathan Betts received the county’s Law Enforcement Deputy of the Year award in a ceremony in University Place Aug. 7.
Betts, a Gig Harbor resident, has been in law enforcement for 12 years, including almost seven as a PCSD deputy and six with the Peninsula Detachment overseeing the Gig Harbor and Key peninsulas as an investigator.
Drawing on his education and experience in business before joining up, Betts recognized better communication between neighboring agencies and residents could improve crime solving. The award recognized his ongoing success in coordinating neighboring agencies, citizen groups and the community to share information.
“We border Mason County, Kitsap County, and we work with Washington State Patrol and Department of Corrections and all these other agencies,” he said. “While we have to abide by borders when it comes to reporting, the perpetrators don’t. We all recognize our local people on videos, but we may not recognize someone who is out of our area. Coordinating our efforts really helps solve crimes and improves response times too.”
The progress acknowledged by the Deputy of the Year award follows his 2022 Standing Ovation Award from Piece County for initiating regular meetings with neighboring counties and other entities to build a new communication network.
That network helped quickly identify homicide suspects in three recent murders: Tyrone “TJ” Sero, a 19-year-old killed in Gig Harbor during a drug deal in October 2021, and Steven and Mina Shulz, of East 2 West Brewing, killed at their Olalla home in April 2022.
“We were able to identify the suspects and locate them because of our network,” Betts said. Photos from Facebook and surveillance cameras were shared with all the members, and in both cases, all the suspects were found and arrested in a matter of days.
More recently, WSP sent Betts a photo of a passenger in a car involved in a traffic altercation. “They said, ‘Hey, who’s this girl?’ I said, ‘That’s so and so, she dates this certain guy.’ Turned out he was the suspect, and they got him.”
Betts spends most of his time on investigation, supporting patrol, and assisting detectives.
“Ninety percent of what I do is property crime stuff, but then the detectives will use local resources like me or patrol guys to help find certain people with our local knowledge,” he said. “I will also go out and look for problems. We all know where to look and I always find something.”
Part of that, he said, is because of crime reports and tips he receives.
“I give my work cell phone number out to everybody if they have a problem in the neighborhood,” Betts said. “Obviously, I’m not 911, I can’t be there every day, and our patrol guys can’t be there every day. But I tell people, if you see something you think is not worth calling in, this car may be coming and going from this house, or there are people maybe someplace they don’t belong, call me, text me. It may not be important at the moment but later on I may see that car or those people on video at a burglary and now I know where I can find them.”
Betts also said people should call 911 or the department’s non-emergency number to report anything suspicious. The same can be done in a two-sentence report online.
“One of my biggest concerns out here is people don’t report things: mail theft, car prowls, things like that,” he said. “Whenever I give neighborhood talks, I tell them you gotta report the crime. If I don’t know things are happening, I can’t let patrol know that hey, we’ve got a hotspot so we can focus our efforts in that area.”
There are 21 deputies assigned to the Peninsula Detachment, which has an office in Purdy. Between two and three are on duty on the peninsulas at any given time.
That hasn’t changed for about 15 years even as the population has grown, according to Pierce County Council Member Robyn Denson (D-7th), who represents the KP, Gig Harbor and part of Tacoma.
“The situation is the same countywide,” she said. “When I was running for office (in 2022), we were down like 60 officers and now we’re down, I think, to less than 15, so we’re doing so much better in hiring deputies. As a council, we have increased salaries, and we have all sorts of retention and hiring bonuses. That’s really helped.”
But while the department is growing, she said, most resources are dedicated to areas with the most violent crime in Tacoma, South Hill, and the Parkland-Spanaway areas. Denson said she is trying to budget for an additional Peninsula deputy.
Crime rates have been falling across the country and the county over the last five years, though some categories are dropping more slowly than others. (See sidebar.)
“We had a huge spike in crime during COVID and that was definitely seen county-wide and across the board,” Betts said. “But it’s been decreasing double digits at least in this area and that’s something I monitor. Because things tend to get trendy; people get an idea of something working and they try that until we squash it. We focus on the people causing the most problems and work our way down that list. It’s the old 80/20 rule: 80% of your crimes are done by 20% of your people.”
Betts regularly attends community meetings and works closely with the KP Community Council Public Safety Committee, KP Kids, and the Gig Harbor-Key Peninsula Homeless Coalition, just a few of the organizations he considers vital to reducing crime.
“I try to approach all of our problems in two ways: one from the criminal justice side and one from the social services side,” he said. “My job is the criminal justice side, and I have to exhaust those means, but at the same time, this person has services available to them when they’re ready. I get tips on people wanting help, needs across the board. I mean, these people don’t grow up wanting to be drug users, drug dealers. This is just what they fall into, or grew up in. Prevent another crime by getting them healthy. Get them out of the lifestyle.”
To do that, Betts said the public should support those services.
“Donate to your local charities, to your nonprofits, your food banks, your churches, because they are the places we go to find people shelter, food, drug rehab, all those things,” he said. “Your money, your food, your clothes, all help make a difference in the community.”
To report a crime or concern that is not an emergency, call the Pierce County Sheriff ’s Department at 253-287-4455 or 800-562- 9800. The Peninsula Detachment can be reached at 253-798-4940.
To file a report online, go to www2.south-sound911.org/onlinereporting.
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