packed a city council meeting Monday night, demanding to know what the city is doing about a rise in crime that's been impacting their homes, shops and restaurants.
"My house was burglarized. My car was stolen. A window was broken with a rock. They didn't get in that time," said Val Erickson, an Auburn resident. "A human being pooped diarrhea in my garage which I had to pay to have cleaned up. I have had stuff thrown in my yard. I have people, humans, pooping in my yard."
In a separate shoplifting incident that happened last week at her business, Willis said she followed a woman outside who was accused of stealing a number of rings from the antique shop. Willis says she continued to follow her down the street while on the phone with 911, keeping the woman in sight until police arrived at their location. However, that woman was able to slip off into the woods, despite the police arriving at the scene.
"There aren’t enough officers period," said Mayor Backus. "The last few years have seen officers leaving all the agencies in record numbers. Auburn is not alone in that."The mayor says two officers have left in the past couple weeks to go to the city of Renton and hiring new officers and getting them trained quickly is a challenge.