West Illegal Camping in Kent, Washington

[56 Spartan]

I recently went to Kent, Washington. I parked legally, and went to my trailer. Within an hour two Kent Police Officers were shining their flashlights in my rig, and knocking on the door. I am law abiding citizen, so I figured they must have noticed something wrong with my camper, (like a tire going flat.) When I opened the door, one of the officers said, "Do you know that I could arrest you right now!" I was shocked. I asked him what I had done, and he told me that he could arrest me for illegal camping. I told him that I was from Salem, Oregon and didn't know that it was illegal in Washington. I gave him my ID, and while he was checking it, I told him that I would leave, and I didn't mean to cause any problems. The officer then told me that it is a city ordinance, and the only legal place to camp is Naden Park. After giving me a warning, he instructed me on how to get there. When I arrived at Naden Park in Kent, Washington it was covered in litter. It has to be the only city park with out trash cans. There are no hook ups, but there is a dump station. (Naden park is free, but there are signs that say you can only stay for 24 hours.) 24 hours was way to long, there were different people coming and going at all hours from this run down fifth wheel next to me. I am no expert, but I believe they were selling drugs. When I went to leave, there is no turn around. You can drive around the block, but the other side is gravel and has huge potholes. Not fun when you are trying not to knock stuff over in your camper. I was still pretty rattled by the threat of arrest, so I went to a public library to look up the laws, and sure enough you really can be arrested or fined in Kent, Washington for going into your own RV, unless your in Naden Park.