June 7, 2023 Dena Jensen
Bellingham City Council Member Dan Hammill made remarks at the Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday this week that included information about two different funding sources Whatcom County has that offer the potential to invest in behavioral health efforts up to around ten million dollars a year.
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June 1, 2023 Dena Jensen
Here’s some information relevant to funding for recommended actions related to behavioral health services and facilities, among other things, in the draft Justice Project Implementation Plan. (Link to the draft plan: https://www.whatcomcounty.us/…/Implementation-Plan… ) Whatcom County’s Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force is seeking feedback from community members about the draft implementation plan, now through June 11, 2023.
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May 21, 2023 Dena Jensen
In this post you will find the content of the meeting summaries of the Whatcom County Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force that are currently available so far for 2023. This is a period when the focus of the Task Force has more prominently centered on the intersection of their work with Whatcom County’s Justice Project.
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May 1, 2023 Dena Jensen
Over the next few months, our community will have a more intensive opportunity to review and speak out about the process (and outcome of that process) by which Whatcom County Council has come to accept recommendations, and potentially propose funding, for a new jail along with mental and behavioral health services related to incarceration and reducing and preventing incarceration.
Continue readingApril 20, 2023 Dena Jensen
April 20, 2023 Dena Jensen
On April 10, 2023, five out of seven members of the Bellingham City Council voted to approve an ordinance making it illegal to publicly use controlled substances in their city. Council Members took the action after amending the original ordinance which had been presented by Mayor Seth Fleetwood about a month earlier. Enforcement will guarantee that some people living outside will be exposed to increased scrutiny and pursuit by the Bellingham Police Department.
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May 19, 2022 Dena Jensen
Ever think, here in the year 2022 in Bellingham and Whatcom County, folks have got to be off-base who are claiming that law enforcement officers, paramedics, EMT’s (emergency medical technicians) or firefighters don’t have sufficient knowledge of behavioral health concepts and approaches to properly serve the needs of community members?
May 11, 2022 Dena Jensen
Next week, on Monday, May 16, 2022, City of Bellingham is hosting their town hall meeting on Public Safety. Here is the link to attend that town hall: https://cob.org/event/cctownhall-05162022
In advance of that forum the Bellingham City Council received some presentations yesterday from the Whatcom County Prosecutor and from Bellingham Police Department’s Deputy Chief related to crime.
Based on material I heard in those presentations I sent the email below to the Whatcom County Justice Project’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee. This is the email address people can use to contact them: SAC@co.whatcom.wa.us
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May 2, 2022 Dena Jensen
As people are becoming more and more aware, Whatcom County is moving forward in various government meetings towards a needs assessment for what they are calling a “public health, safety and justice facility.” In general, that facility is acknowledged to be a new jail in combination with mental and behavioral health services.
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Click the graphic to access the February 16, 2018 GQ persepective by by Drew Magary, “The Case Against Sheriffs”
October 19, 2019 Dena Jensen
“The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement. We must never erode this historic office.” – Jeff Sessions, February 12, 2018
If you read GQ correspondent, Drew Magary’s perspective piece from February of 2018, “The Case Against Sheriffs,” a social climate that embraces overtly racist and violent Sheriffs, a sampling of which Magary highlights, is not one found in Whatcom County.
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September 25, 2019 Dena Jensen
Here is a link at which you can access the video of the September 23, 2019 Whatcom County Justice Updates event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLQVQef10mo
Below is the email I sent to members of the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force today regarding that event:
To: jnixon@co.whatcom.wa.us <jnixon@co.whatcom.wa.us>
Cc: Barry Buchanan <bbuchana@co.whatcom.wa.us>
Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019, 01:57:18 PM PDT
Subject: Regarding the 9/23/19 Whatcom County Justice Updates event and addressing issues related to trust
Dear Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force Members:
Continue readingI recently watched the video of the Whatcom County Justice Updates event that was held on Monday, September 23, 2019. I wanted to address the issue of trust that was one of the focuses of the meeting.
noisy waters northwest 
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