One Of Highest in State? Small WA Town Averages 31 Cop Calls a Day

Like many smaller towns in both Eastern and Western WA, this community is dealing with the growing issues of drug trafficking.

  Small Western WA town averaged 31 Police calls for service a day in May

Sultan, WA, is 23 miles east of Everett in Snohomish County, and offers a lot of recreating and other fun small-town things to do. But law enforcement has been increasingly busy.  The Police Chief and a four-member team of Deputies (they have an interagency agreement with Snohomish County for many LE services) answered 983 calls for service in May, an average of 31 a day.

Sultan has about 5,146 residents, according to the last census. While about 33 percent of the calls are traffic-public safety related, many involve trying to keep a lid on the Highway 2 drug trafficking that affects them and surrounding areas.

Highway 2 is sometimes called the "Hi-Line" and connects Interstate 5 near Everett and I-90 near Spokane. It's known for a lot of growing drug movement. Data shows drug trafficking is on the rise in Snohomish County, with increases in overdoses from various narcotics, especially Fentanyl.

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The 31 calls a day figure is rather high, compared to other small cities. Prosser (according to recent data) averages around 16 per day, with a population of around 6,600.

Sunnyside also averages, based on 2023 data, about 31 calls per day (11,400 in 2023) but their population is 3 times the size of Sultan (nearly 16,300).