Serious Highway Crime Action Team

Over the past few years, District 3 has developed a model for deploying canine troopers and line troopers in tandem to focus on serious highway crimes. These teams are called "Serious Highway Crime Action Teams," or SHCAT. District 3's SHCAT program has proven so effective in the detection and apprehension of DUIs, aggressive drivers, and non-driving crimes such as narcotics trafficking and weapons violations, that each district in the Washington State Patrol has been directed to develop and implement their own SHCAT program.

In 2002, District 3 SHCAT troopers:

• Made 31 felony drug possession arrests.
• 173 misdemeanor drug arrests.
• A total 49 felony arrests, and 238 misdemeanor arrests for a wide variety of violations which included theft, possession of stolen property, forgery, narcotics, and weapons violations.
• Seized 17 vehicles used in drug trafficking valued at approximately $100,000.
• Seized 5.7 lbs. of marijuana, 1.3 lbs. of heroin, 80 Kilos of cocaine (street value of approximately 2.5 million dollars), and 1 lb. of methamphetamine.
• Served 80 arrest warrants and seized numerous weapons.

Also in 2002, SHCAT troopers provided invaluable training in the apprehension and detection of subjects involved in serious criminal activity on Washington State highways to 120 officers from 25 law enforcement agencies across the state.

East Region Bomb Team

Four members of the Walla Walla Detachment comprise one of three Washington State Patrol Bomb Squads. The East Region Bomb Team serves most of Eastern Washington.

The explosives unit — or bomb squad — was established to provide assistance to agencies and individuals in the rendering safe of identified explosives or suspected explosive devices and materials. Members of the squad provide training in the areas of searching techniques, suspicious letters, packages, devices, and explosives to emergency response personnel and to public and private sector entities.

East Region Bomb Team

Services provided by the East Region Bomb Team include the disposal of:

• Explosives (homemade and commercial)
• Ammunition
• Fireworks
• Ether

In addition, the bomb team provides:

• Response to, and rendering safe of, suspected and known explosive devices.
• Post-blast investigation.
• Letter and parcel bomb recognition training.
• Information on how to handle bomb threats and bomb threat search techniques.
• Incident response to terrorist bombing.
• Explosive recognition for emergency response personnel.

Hispanic Communtiy Outreach Program

Over the past decade, Eastern Washington has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of fatality and felony collisions involving Hispanic/Latino surnamed drivers. Click here to view the Hispanic Community Outreach Program (El Protector) page.