The loss of law enforcement personnel in the Evergreen State started during the later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and was compounded by the defund the police movement
Carleen Johnson
The Center Square Washington
During the upcoming legislative session, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs will be pushing for legislation to deal with the state’s shortage of law enforcement officers
WASPC Executive Director Steve Strachan told The Center Square that Washington is still last in the nation in terms of law enforcement per capita.
“We’ve been losing ground steadily and really all we are doing is slowing the loss a little bit,” he said.
The loss of law enforcement personnel in the Evergreen State started during the later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and was compounded by the defund the police movement.
“If you view this through the prism of time, you go back to 2021, we had a pretty significant departure of officers and there was a net loss of almost 500 officers,” Strachan explained. “In 2022, there was another net loss of 100 officers, and then in 2023, we had a net gain of less than 100, but that was more than negated by population growth.”
Strachan says WASPC’s 2025 legislative priorities will focus on public safety as a core government function.
“As we go into 2025, we’ve got a governor-elect who made one of the main points of his campaign, a pledge to be very serious about police staffing and supporting police staffing,” said Strachan.
As reported by The Center Square, Governor-elect Bob Ferguson made public safety a central theme during his gubernatorial race.
“Both parties are coming together in looking for solutions to public safety as opposed to criticizing police and finding ways to put additional burdens on police,” said Strachan.
WASPC’s 2025 legislative priorities memo states, “We believe in balanced public safety laws that support the core functions of government in an environment where the men and women of law enforcement reflect and care for their communities while having the tools to care for victims in their pursuit of justice.”
The Center Square reached out to the Washington State Patrol for the latest on year-end recruiting numbers.
State Patrol Communications Director Chris Loftis responded that it’s a story about the three R’s: recruitment, retention and retirement.
“Currently we are looking at 162 vacant ‘road trooper’ vacancies,” Loftis said via email. “We began seeing a large vacancy rate in the middle of the last decade when our compensation rates were lower than local agencies and we saw a significant number leave WSP to serve elsewhere.”
Loftis explained that WSP’s vacancy rate doubled in 2021 due to officers leaving the agency due to the requirement to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The large ‘separation’ numbers for 2021 were reflective of the separations due to pandemic vaccination resistance, an issue that lingered into ’22 as well,” Loftis continued. “That also impacted us in resignations as many commissioned staff left before and after the separation mandate to go to other agencies and states that did not have vaccine requirements.”
The current challenge for WSP is the retirement window for commissioned staff.
“After [Sept. 11, 2001], there was a significant increase in law enforcement recruitment and hiring and as those individuals begin reaching their 25-year retirement eligibility benchmarks, we have larger and larger retirement numbers approaching,” said Loftis.
Strachan said recruiting bonuses and incentives for lateral hiring are not the most important part of the solution to the law enforcement shortage in Washington.
“Some communities are doing really well in staffing and consistently what I hear from the sheriffs and chiefs is that the people in those communities are supportive of law enforcement and the officers and that the deputies feel comfortable in doing their jobs,” he said. “It’s not really about money. People are making ultimate decisions on their employment, looking at is this an agency where the community supports the job I’m doing.”
FBI crime data released in September showed for the last five consecutive years when comparing Washington state to the national average, murders are 408% higher, vehicle thefts are higher by 144%, and burglaries, robberies and aggravated assaults are all higher since 2019.
This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.
Also read:
- Hundreds rally in Olympia against proposed tax increases
Hundreds gathered in Olympia on Tax Day to protest a wide range of proposed tax hikes put forward by Democratic lawmakers in Washington state. - Vancouver City Council urged to adopt seven changes to limit public campingClark County Matters is calling on Vancouver leaders to adopt seven ordinance changes that would limit public camping and address growing concerns about safety and livability.
- On ‘Tax Day,’ Senate Democrats propose billions more in tax increases
On Tax Day, Washington Senate Democrats introduced new tax proposals totaling $12 billion, contrasting sharply with Senate Republicans’ no-new-taxes ‘$ave Washington’ budget proposal. - Letter: ‘There will be consequences’Hazel Dell resident Bob Zak criticizes Democratic lawmakers for advancing ESSB 5181, arguing it undermines parental rights and defies biblical principles.
- Clark County Fire District 10 selects local firm to begin planning for replacement of the Amboy Fire StationClark County Fire District 10 has selected Aetta Architecture to begin planning a replacement for the Amboy Fire Station, first built in 1963 and no longer equipped to meet modern emergency response demands.
- Kitten finders, kitten keepers?Nomi Berger shares practical steps for what to do if you find a litter of kittens this spring, including how to assess their needs and connect with Furry Friends in Vancouver.
- PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center seeks new members for Patient & Family Advisory CouncilPeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center is seeking new members for its Patient & Family Advisory Council to help improve patient care through direct community feedback.
No one should be surprised that they can’t recruit enough police officers. They fired all those officers who refused Inslee’s COVID vaccine mandate, didn’t allow for any religious exemptions for the vaccine, passed a state law that holds each officer personally liable for actions taken while on the job, and encouraged local prosecutors to release criminals back on the streets for officers to arrest again and again. If I knew that no one supported me doing my job and that I could be personally sued and my family lose everything, I would not be pursuing a career in law enforcement either. Every single person in this state who has the power to make laws that directly affect our police officers should be required to go on a “ride-along” with an officer. No, not during the day with someone who writes traffic tickets. They need to ride along from midnight on when the true dregs of society are out there committing the crimes and a police officer has a micro second to make a life and death decision. The rest of us need to support our police officers every single day and vote out all law makers who continue to tie their hands, both at the local and the state levels.
Very true.
WA State is suffering from the “ill thinking and mandates” of Gov. Inslee via Dept of Health requiring COVID19 vaccines, which the courts eventually nullified. Insee was wrong. I have talked twice to WSP from the Vancouver office about “no visible troopers” on the road. I get the same answer – budget. How many troopers resigned as they would not take the “poke” – a lot, I think Vancouver lost almost an entire detachment. It takes over a year to train a trooper, go through FTO before assignment. I have not seen an increase in “trooper visibility” since. Yesterday, Thursday 12/26, we made a trip to Olympia and back to visit family. We left at 10:30AM and returned by 6PM. It was a miserable drive both ways. We saw ONE wsp vehicle “on the road” that was a small pickup with the new badge on the door indicating “weigh control officer”. Not one “white trooper car” in all those miles for four hours on the road during the height of traffic. This is Inslee’s fault, plain and simple. If he did not force the mandate for the “poke” the public would not be suffering from the crazies on our highways, the troopers would be visible and the “aggressive driving patrols” would be very busy making the highway safe.