One reason Mill Creek incorporated was so it could control its own police force, as well as its destiny. The ratio of police officers to citizens is 1 to 560, said Mill Creek Police Chief John Klei. By contrast, the ratio in Snohomish County as a whole is 1 to 1,540.
Burglaries top the list of area crimes.
A recent survey showed that 40 percent of Jackson High School students thought drugs were a serious problem. When interviewed, some students said kids turn to drugs, mostly marijuana, because there's not enough to do in Mill Creek. You don't leave the real world behind when you come to Mill Creek. It's not this separate planet. You don't drive across the moat, and there's no forced seal that keeps out the bad element.