Neighbor Against Neighbor Disputes

In the past several weeks there have been several difficult neighbor against neighbor disputes that seem to be ramping up. Perhaps the rise in temperature as summer comes on makes the temper of people rise as well, but the Stevens County Sheriff’s Deputies have been called out to make repeated calls at several locations. The issues are different, but the pattern is the same. Persons who live next to each other or have adjoining property become angry about something and want Law Enforcement to “do something about it.” Usually at the bottom of the problem is a civil dispute over a landline location or a fence location or the mother of all disputes, the use of a road or driveway easement.

Generally, the Deputy responding to the call does not have a solution to the underlying problem because it really needs to be settled with by a judge, but the parties either haven’t or won’t or can’t afford to have the matter taken to court to be settled. So they just fight and call the Sheriff to come and write a report. The responding Deputy tries to exercise common sense and urges the parties to do likewise and advises both parties to keep the peace no matter what. Reports are written and sent to our office for review, but when the dispute really is a civil matter between two parties who are not acting civilly, there is very little that can be done.

These calls take time and strain the meager resources that the county and cities have at hand. It is very difficult to respond to everyone who wants attention to this or that, but it is out of these incidents that many violent events spring. The Deputies must make an assessment of the situation and do the best that they can to advise and then report what has happened so there is at least some documentation.

I urge all citizens to keep the peace and remind folks that the Sheriff and his Deputies are short handed. There is not enough manpower to attend to all the calls as soon as they are made. Not every call is an emergency that must be responded to immediately, and to be patient when requesting help. The Deputies may be responding to a serious emergency on the other end of the county. There are things that take priority over others.

I think that citizens who are concerned about our county should contact our County Commissioners and express that concern. They have the ability to and the responsibility to provide services to the citizens. They need to know what is going well and what is not going well for the people of Stevens County. They will listen to your concerns and work for you to resolve it.

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