A Port Townsend High School teacher placed on leave in February after a mental health incident at school was arrested Friday after returning to his former classroom during fourth period and startled his former students.

The teacher, 52, was booked into the Jefferson County Jail for investigation of second-degree burglary and felony harassment, according to a statement from the Port Townsend Police Department.

The unauthorized visit to the school followed a contentious meeting with administrators at a local restaurant, where the teacher allegedly threatened to kill a school administrator.

Hours after the meeting the teacher went to the school. He had a folding knife on his personal, but did not threaten anyone with it and placed it on a desk when confronted by police.

Students were escorted out of the classroom during the incident and were offered counseling and encouraged to call their parents, according to a statement from the school. Counselors may be available next week as well.

“No staff or students were injured, though some reported they were alarmed by Miller’s behavior and swearing,” the statement said. In the classroom, with students and the substitute teacher present, the teacher “began removing personal items from the wall, appeared to be talking on his cellular phone, described personal details of his life to students and started asking the teenagers if anyone had been talking about him since he was placed on leave.”

Police had previously been called to the teacher’s classroom, on Feb. 4, when he was reported to be suffering from a mental health condition. He was removed from campus, put in contact with mental health treatment resources and informed he was prohibited from returning to campus.

At the meeting the preceding Friday’s incident, a plain clothes police officer was seated in another part of the restaurant to “keep the peace” and was told of the threat against the administrator after the teacher had left.

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The Kitsap Sheriff’s Office’s efforts to engage with residents over social media are picking up, and yesterday it premiered a cheeky approach on Facebook to getting attention for wanted suspects.

At this point tentatively dubbed “warrant Wednesday,” and loosely inspired by Bremerton Police Chief Steve Strachan’s weekly newsletter, the posts give a first-person account of some of the person’s crimes.

Deputy Scott Wilson, the author of the posts and one of three of the office’s social media managers, said the posts have received incredible attention, with 51,000 views.

“Yesterday was putting our toe in the water,” Wilson said. “Jees, it took off like crazy.”

“Whoa is right,” Wilson said, who acknowledged they are a departure from the office’s typically “vanilla” posts.

It’s not something the office wants to do too much of, however, Wilson said. At some point, if overdone, the posts would lose their punch and would become Internet noise.

They have also generated criticism, with a commenter on one post weighing in that it is belittling and unprofessional.

Wilson, who serves as the office’s spokesman, acknowledged that feedback.

“Some took offense,” he said. “Well, OK, I understand. We’re just trying to be tongue in cheek.”

Despite the speed at which information moves in the social media era, Wilson noted that as a post on one warrant suspect was being prepared, deputies were closing in and took the suspect into custody.

The office plans to use its Facebook page for education, everyday community outreach and highlighting personnel changes and milestones. Its Twitter feed, Wilson said, will be used for public safety updates and immediate issues the office wants to communicate to the public.

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As somebody who regularly reads felony filings from Kitsap prosecutors, I was a little puzzled by the interest in a recent bust of suspected cocaine dealers, as cops and prosecutors routinely bust drug dealers and users. By “routine” I mean “almost every single day.”

(Possession of pretty much any drug other than pot – which is legal in the state – is a felony.)

It’s interesting that it appeared the sellers had a strong customer base on-base, shall we say, but mostly it struck me as unusual that the drug was cocaine. There isn’t a lot of cocaine coming to the attention of law enforcement in Kitsap. A little bit of crack now and again — and apparently there is plenty of crack in Seattle and Tacoma — but powder cocaine is more expensive, and less powerful, than meth, a drug for which Kitsap does have a considerable appetite (Meth and heroin, then prescription pills, are what I’ve seen the most of reading felony filings). If I could find on kitsapsun.com a relatively recent story I wrote about Kitsap’s tastes in hard drugs I would link to it here.

(Here is a link to that story)

If I had to bet, however, I would assume there is plenty of coke in the more affluent areas of Kitsap and among certain groups, like the fish swimming through Kitsap waters. However, a coke habit may not be as crippling as other hard drug addictions, so maybe there are more casual users who otherwise keep their affairs in order. They aren’t out there stripping copper wiring from construction sites and jacking baby formula from the Wheaton Way Wal-Mart, so maybe they fly under the radar.

But what I found most interesting was this passage in the probable cause statement, as written by an investigator with the Sheriff’s Office:

“I learned the common belief by the sailors is that users can ingest the Cocaine over the weekend and have the Cocaine clear of their system come Monday morning – if a urinalysis is conducted by the Navy.”

It was, in fact, a urine test that brought the drug use to the attention of the Navy, which then set into motion the bust. So, apparently that calculation was incorrect.

Or maybe it wasn’t.

Marijuana, which sailors are forbidden from using, lingers in a person’s body and for heavy users can be detected for up to a month. At least that’s the common understanding, although it might not be totally accurate these days.

But as for “drugs of abuse,” pot really is the in-law who won’t leave. Almost all other drugs clear out of a person’s system in a matter of days, especially for the casual user.

Cocaine and its metabolites are detectable for up to five days, according to the Mayo Clinic, so depending on the Navy’s drug testing regimen, how often they test, how “random” it is, and an individual’s metabolism, chances are a person could get away with it.

At least, as we have seen, they can get away with it for a while.

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