An event hosted June 1 by Elavision Education Series (EES) promises to be the first in a series of upcoming collaborative law enforcement and community safety events in Federal Way.

Dr. Mohammad Saeed, trustee of the Islamic Center of Federal Way, was one of the main sponsors for the event at the Federal Way Community Center. He has lived in Federal Way for 45 years and said he supported the event because of his concern about the increase in crime over the time he has lived here.

Several presenters shared their perspectives on different topics related to crime, then answered questions from the audience in a group discussion.

“Nobody in the room has all the absolute answers, so it’s got to be a collective effort and a collective conversation … on what an outcome is going to be,” said speaker David Lewis, director and program manager of behavioral health services for Seattle Public Schools who also does research on youth development and the impact of stress.

In his presentation, he said the research has found what causes kids to engage in harmful behavior like crime and drug use. Focusing on youth is way to be proactive about social problems rather than reactive, Lewis explained.

“The resources are better if they’re up front. And the time is better spent up front because then there’ll be ten kids we don’t even see on the news because they never got there because it was taken care of when they were 5, 6, 7, 8 or 10 years old,” Lewis said.

In his research at Seattle Public Schools, they looked at the impacts of strong and healthy foundations in four categories: school, home, community and recreation over seven years. They found that for kids to thrive, they need three out of these four to be healthy.

Throughout his presentation, he shared information about brain science and asked the audience about their thoughts on the impact of everything from social media to stable home lives on stress and problematic behavior.

Victoria Beach spoke on how to build trust between communities and police in her presentation. She is a community liaison in Seattle from the Central District, a historically Black neighborhood. She shared personal stories about the traumatic and violent experiences she and her close family members have had with police brutality and how she grew to move through her fear and hatred of police in order to collaborate with them instead.

“I’m going to support them when they’re doing right and I’m going to hold them accountable when they’re doing wrong,” Beach said.

Building trust is hard, but she said the most important thing to build those bridges between communities is to keep showing up and getting to know one another.

Chief Andy Hwang of the Federal Way Police Department gave an overview of crime statistics within Federal Way and Washington state, connecting crime trends to changes in law and policy and in shifts in narcotic trends. Hwang focused most of the discussion on legislation, but also touched on community and sociological factors that impact crime.

“Money doesn’t solve all problems, but it solves a lot of them,” Hwang said. “Socioeconomic factors matter, and we see more crime where people are more strained.”

Audience questions centered on the school system, solutions, transparency, homelessness and more.

Dr. Sonya Mahmood is a primary care provider who grew up in Federal Way and works with youth. She shared frustration around seeing the same issues again and again with no pathway collaborate with police or the broader community to share that information or proactively address the issues.

“Kids are passing around what they think are painkillers or Advil,” not realizing that they are possibly fentanyl, Mahmood said of one of the issues she sees frequently. She asked police how she can help and if they are doing any type of education or awareness programs in schools.

Chief Hwang responded: “I don’t have answers for you.”

While no easy answers were presented at the event, one message that echoed through the dialogue emphasized themes brought up by Lewis.

“You’ve got to have that constant positive feedback growing up,” Chief Hwang said, speaking of youth offenders specifically. “If they don’t have that positive mentorship…they get their self-worth from doing crimes.”

“We can’t do it alone,” the chief added. “Everybody needs to work together to build those safety nets.”

Federal Way City Councilmember Jack Walsh attended the event and said that “involvement is the thing that can truly change things.” Walsh encouraged everyone to get involved with their neighborhood, within their family, at their children’s school and any way they can.

Reflecting on the success of the event afterward, Dr. Saeed said that he saw “good communication about what is happening in the community” and that he believes the answers lie in accountability, saying that “any good society always needs consequences.”

Community members attending the community policing event on June 1 talk before the program begins. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror

David Lewis, Victoria Beach, Federal Way Police Chief Andy Hwang, Mychal and Dr. Mohammad Saeed at the June 1 event at the Federal Way Community Center. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror