News from Snohomish County Council

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office has launched a new effort to share accurate and timely data with the public by partnering with CrimeMapping.com, an interactive website that maps crime in our communities.

Crime mapping is a tool used by many law enforcement agencies to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns. It is a key component of crime analysis. Mapping crime by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allows crime analysts to identify crime hot spots, along with other trends and patterns.

"Sheriff John Lovick and his deputies continue to find innovative ways to combat crime in our communities," said Councilmember Dave Gossett. "This is an exciting step that will not only help deputies be more effective in their work but also provide valuable information to citizens."

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office will feed its crime data to the Crimemapping site to ensure that each crime is reported accurately. The records themselves are also put through an exclusive data scrubbing process that works to locate each crime incident geographically in Google Maps. Data covers the past 90 days and is generally available within 24 hours of a crime being committed.

A link to the crime maps can be found at http://sheriff.snoco.org and by clicking on Crimemapping. Once on the Crimemapping.com site, users can "filter" crimes from a list of law enforcement agencies that provide data to the site. Links are also provided, as well a feature that allows users to view crime trends. CrimeMapping is also available for the iPhone.

"Once at the site you can sort data by crime type, location, and date," said Gossett. "You can also use the system to generate reports and subscribe to receive automatic email updates on new activity in your area."

Using GIS, crime analysts can overlay other datasets such as census demographics, locations of businesses, schools, etc., to better understand the underlying causes of crime and help law enforcement administrators to devise strategies to deal with the problem. GIS is also useful for law enforcement operations, such as allocating police officers and dispatching to emergencies.

Data will be available for all jurisdictions that are covered by the Sheriff's Office, including unincorporated Snohomish County, Gold Bar, Darrington, Snohomish, Stanwood, Sultan, and Index.

Ribbon Cut for Aerospace Training Expansion

On June 28, just two years after opening, there was a ribbon cutting to celebrate the addition of 9,000 square feet to the Washington Aerospace Training and Research (WATR) Center operated by Edmonds Community College.

There is a demand for trained aerospace workers. The Boeing Company hired roughly 10,000 new employees in Washington in 2011 and has added another 3,000 so far in 2012.

"Having a highly trained workforce is essential to Snohomish County continuing to be a leader in aerospace," said Councilmember Dave Gossett. "Expanding the training center is a very important step in maintaining that workforce."

The WATR Center opened in June 2010 offering training for current and future aviation

workers. Edmonds Community College renovated half of a 30,000-square-foot building at Paine Field Airport. The Aerospace Futures

Alliance leased the building from Snohomish County. The renovated area is used for classrooms and training labs. To assist in WATR's efforts, The Boeing Company donated $2.5 million in tools, equipment, and materials.

"Snohomish County is excited to be a partner in making the WATR Center a reality," said Gossett. "We've been actively involved in both the initial opening and the expansion."

Since opening, 793 students have completed the twelve week programs at WATR. The expansion will enable the center to accommodate nearly double the number of students learning skills to land jobs in factories

and shops.

Certificate of Completion programs at the WATR center include: Aerospace Manufacturing Core Skills, Aerospace Manufacturing Assembly Mechanic, Aerospace Electrical Assembly Mechanic, Aerospace Manufacturing Quality Assurance, Toolmaker, and Composite Manufacturing and Repair.

Students interested in aviation training at the WATR Center are eligible for financial assistance. These options include low-interest loans from the Higher Education Coordinating Board's Aerospace Loan Program, GI Bill benefits, GET and Sallie Mae loans. The programs provide up to $4,800 for the 12 weeks of training for students with financial need.

New sections of each of the following 12-week programs start approximately every 30 days:

* Aerospace manufacturing core skills

* Aerospace assembly mechanic

* Aerospace electrical assembler

"Being a graduate of the WATR Center's program is a great way to get a job," said Gossett. "91% of all graduates have been hired in the aerospace industry."

To get more information or become a student at the WATR Center call

425-347-8928 or email watrc@edcc.edu

I hope you found this eNEWSLETTER informative and useful. You can make it even more valuable by suggesting topics and issues for future newsletters. Please contact me at 425-388-3494, or e-mail Dave.Gossett@snoco.org. If you would like to share this newsletter, select the Forward email link below.

Sincerely,

Dave Gossett
Snohomish County Council