Kent’s Sara Wood the queen of the graffiti paint-over

Thoughts of becoming a police officer once danced in the head of Sara Wood.

But Wood seems to have found an even better fit as a Kent Police public education specialist. She helps teach people how to prevent crime rather than arrest people for committing crimes.

“I like working with officers, but I don’t want a gun and handcuffs,” Wood said during a recent interview at her desk at the Kent Police Station. “I think about it, but I think I’m good.”

Wood’s job duties overlap with officers as she works to combat graffiti through organized cleanups, provides property crime-prevention tips to local businesses, organizes neighborhood and apartment block-watch programs and oversees the National Night Out annual event to help neighborhood groups prevent crime.

The job also keeps Wood involved with city residents.

“I love working with the community,” said Wood, who started with the city as an intern in 1997 and has worked the last five years in her present position. “You can’t really measure crime prevention very well because something doesn’t happen. But we remove graffiti as quick as possible and help a business that was broken into. I think that makes a difference and that’s what I love about this job.”

Officer Kevin Bateman knows Wood makes a difference. Both are assigned to the city’s Valley district while other officers and public education specialists work in the East Hill and West Hill districts.

“She’s always willing to jump in and help,” Bateman said. “With the graffiti program, that is huge. The bad guys get frustrated because they know after they tag stuff it gets painted over. That’s had a good impact.”

Wood receives all of the graffiti complaints that citizens report to the city, whether through e-mails or calls to the city graffiti hotline at 253-856-GRAF. The city started a graffiti-cleanup program in 2008 in an effort to get rid of the unwanted scrawling within 24 to 48 hours and potentially keep it from happening in the first place.

“Some days I get as many as 10 (graffiti) reports,” Wood said.

About once a month, Wood organizes volunteer cleanups to combat graffiti. The city owns a van equipped with paint and supplies, so volunteers just have to show up to help. Six groups also have volunteered to adopt spots around town known for graffiti, in order to quickly clean up any new tagging.

Besides the work to curb graffiti, Wood deals closely with business owners who have been burglarized or vandalized. In addition to e-mailing regular reports about where crimes occur, she walks through businesses to help them figure out ways to prevent break-ins.

“We can give them recommendations on better lighting, how to enhance their locks or other ways to prevent crime,” Wood said.

Wood also works closely with Stacy Judd and Ceci Velez, the other two police public education specialists.

“What I do is because of the teamwork we have,” Wood said of Judd and Velez as the trio often share ideas with each other. “We would not be as effective if we did not have each other.”

Outside of work, Wood spends a lot of time with her husband Brian Wood and their 2-year-old daughter. They live in the Panther Lake area, which will become annexed to the city of Kent in July.

“I get to know my daughter more and more every day,” Wood said. “I also like to play softball, get outdoors and walk my dog. But mostly I try to keep up with my daughter.”

Woods grew up in Lake Tapps and graduated in 1994 from Auburn High School. She earned degrees in criminal justice and sociology from the University of Washington and has a master’s degree in public administration from Seattle University.

She worked an internship with the city of Kent’s Drinking Drive task force while attending the UW and later became a full-time city employee as an administrative assistant in the police department.

As a police officer, Bateman certainly appreciates all of the work Wood does.

“You never have to ask her twice about something and she’s half done before you even ask,” Bateman said. “She’s a great partner to work with. She always has a smile and always is happy.”