Coronavirus in rural America (Part LXXX): "Why we're not surprised by what's happening in Yakima County, Washington"

This is the second in a two-part series on rural jail responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Both this post and the prior one (out of Georgia) are by scholars associated with the Vera Institute's rural jails project. This post is by Marisa V. Cervantes and Sandra Yokley of Washington State University, Pullman:

Compared to large cities, rates of COVID-19 are increasing faster in rural counties, agricultural communities, and smaller cities. The less urbanized areas have limited access to resources, leaving these communities in a heightened vulnerability. This lack of safety can have devastating impacts on their ability to recover. As we continue to think about how to maintain safety in the face of restructuring communities, it is vital that these areas be included in the conversation.

Yakima County, Washington, has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases in the state. There have been upwards of 7,300 cases as of June 30, 2020. Of those, 49.8% of the cases have been tied to Hispanic/Latinx people, compared to 18.5% of whites (even though whites make up 42.7% of the population while Hispanic/Latinx make up 49%). Amidst the high rates of coronavirus, the county has had several recent events including a jailbreak and various protests, both in response to the pandemic.

In the face of the power differential split that exists in areas like Yakima, whose economy is highly dependent on food processing industries, we see a divided community. The agricultural economy employs about a third of the workforce, most of whom are Hispanic/Latinx and/or undocumented. These agricultural workers’ protests are centered on the need for stricter safety measures and protection, while another group of non-agricultural workers is opposing the state mandates to practice social distancing and wear protective gear out in public. Despite the division, both groups share a concern of public safety within the community.

The devastating effect of COVID-19 and the subsequent events happening in the area do not come as a surprise because Yakima is a socially vulnerable county. The CDC measures social vulnerability using factors including but not limited to socioeconomic status, minority status, crowded housing, and lack of access to adequate transportation. Socially vulnerable counties like Yakima, which ranks in the top 10% of socially vulnerable counties across the nation, are less likely to prevent suffering and recover from disasters such as COVID-19. This is why a rethinking of safety and the ways in which these counties operate is imperative.

These conversations and calls to action center on what can and should be done when what communities desire and require in terms of safety diverge from what the police can provide. Governments and policymakers thus far have viewed public safety as something to be handled by the police. This paradigm is reflected through local, state, and national budgets, wherein law enforcement agencies often secure a high proportion of the financial resources. These efforts demonstrate the county, state, or country’s commitment to safety and affirm that the police are responsible for guaranteeing the safety of the communities they work for, no matter the cost. Whether governments, policymakers, and police prioritize safety is not what is being called into question in the recent—but not new—discourses taking place across the nation. The voices speaking out against the escalation of COVID-19 and its disproportionate impacts on minorities and communities of color, like those in Yakima County, need to be heard. These calls for justice, paired with those protesting the wrongful death of Black bodies by police officers across the nation, highlight that law enforcement as the primary avenue for public safety is insufficient and deadly in the wake of these pandemics.

While the protests happening in Yakima County by minority agricultural workers may appear, on the surface, to be about hazard pay and protective gear, the root of their actions is fear — the fear that comes with not feeling safe, not feeling protected. The police are not able to bring the safety these vulnerable people seek, but there are organizations that can. Many community service organizations, while better equipped to handle community needs, have been forgotten by county, state, and national governments because of the prevailing notion that police are best suited to handle issues of safety. Yakima County, like many other socially vulnerable counties, has social service organizations that are in high demand and have the ability to best serve the community and advocate for their rights. What they don’t have are the resources to operate successfully.

Organizations that address issues tied to the vulnerability of residents such as crisis services (Lower Valley Crisis & Support), medical assistance (Yakima County Department of Emergency Medical Services), housing assistance (OIC of Washington), and more, can be better utilized and supported by those who are trained to deal with community wellbeing. This can happen through diverting funding from law enforcement agencies to local social service organizations. Calls to defund the police have surged across the nation as protestors, activists, and organizations express their discontent for the way safety in their communities has been handled.

In protest, people are putting themselves in harm's way to demonstrate their longing for and commitment to community-driven safety. While ideally, the partnerships between law enforcement and community service organizations should have already existed, it is not too late. Governments, police, and community service organizations can work together to adjust responses to safety and to work on funding the organizations that can create a safer community.

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Another recent post out of Yakima County is here.