Neighbors in the Wahl Road area of Freeland are taking action to clean up their neighborhood.

A group of about 50 people met earlier this month to hear from local law enforcement officials and the executive director of Lead on America, an organization that helps residents clean up neighborhoods where there is illegal drug activity.

Although the main source of their concern is in jail, residents believe the meeting was a good opportunity to learn how to keep their area free of drug-related crimes.

Nearby properties have been hangouts for people allegedly using drugs; a wooded lot with a cabin on Wahl Road and a second property on Dow Road.

The owner of the Wahl Road site, Eric Kraabel, has been arrested and is in Island County Jail.

According to the Island County Sheriff’s Office, he has been convicted of a number of violations and will be spending a number of years in prison.

Kraabel was arrested on charges including drunk driving, resisting arrest, driving with a suspended license and violation of an anti-harassment order with a neighbor.

Kraabel’s property is currently being repossessed by the bank. And the sheriff’s office is working with the Island County Health Department to evict people who have been squatting in tents on the property.

So far, law enforcement contacts with the Dow home have mainly focused on traffic complaints.

At the meeting, Sheriff Mike Hawley urged neighbors to be the eyes and ears for law enforcement.

“I’ve been preaching for a decade, at over 1,000 public meetings, for residents to call 911 wherever and whenever they see anything suspicious. Whether it’s in your neighborhood, on the highway or on the ferry, call 911 immediately,” Hawley said.

It’s a different approach than the method offered by Susan York, founder of Lead on America.

She says setting up neighborhood contacts to gather information and act as the point of contact with law enforcement is effective.

But Hawley disagrees.

“It’s too slow for crime prevention in rural Island County. The tactic works well in an urban setting where police resources are stretched thin, but here we respond to all calls,” he said.

“Getting the information in real time is important. We want to know immediately when something suspicious is going on,” Hawley said.

York, who is also the executive director of Lead On America, said the Freeland meeting was marked by “an awesome turnout.”

“We were really ecstatic to see the number of concerned people. They were engaged and very proactive,” she said.

York said she was invited by a neighbor in the area that heard about her organization.

York started the organization after she successfully fought to close a meth house in her neighborhood in Snohomish County.

“I lived across the street from a meth house. It was over 800 days of hell,” she said.

“So far we have helped law enforcement close 40 drug houses and have held 44 meetings,” she said.

Sheriff candidates De Dennis and Mark Brown, and prosecutor candidate Steve Selby, attended the meeting. Prosecutor Greg Banks showed up as the Sunday afternoon meeting was breaking up.

Kraabel was the first adult candidate for Island County Drug Court, an alternative to traditional prosecution for non-violent drug-addicted offenders. Participating in Adult Drug Court requires a minimum two-year commitment of intensive treatment and supervision.

According to the protection order, when Kraabel was in drug treatment, he had given permission for a couple to live on his property. But that night a woman was seen passed out in her car in Kraabel’s driveway. Police found crystal meth in her lap when they arrived, and she was arrested.

Neighbors said the Kraabel property was the scene of many late-night parties, and they were forced to pull the shades every night at 7 p.m., lock the doors and turn on the security system for fear of a break-in.