By Carleen Johnson | The Center Square
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs is sounding the alarm about new statistics from the FBI concerning crime data.
When comparing Washington state to the national average, murders are 408% higher, vehicle thefts higher by 144%, and burglaries, robberies, and aggravated assaults are all higher since 2019, according to WASPC.
“Very concerning is that the murder rate in Washington was more than five times the national average,” WASPC Director Steven Strachan said during a Thursday interview with The Center Square. “In other words, our rate of homicides in Washington is far exceeding national trends.”
Vehicle thefts are among other alarming statistics in the report.
“The vehicle theft rate from 2022 to 2023 for Washington state is more than twice the rate nationally, so you’re more than twice as likely to have your car stolen in Washington, than in the country overall,” Strachan explained.
According to WASPC’s “Crime in Washington 2023” report ,vehicle theft rates have increased 110.2% since 2019 in Washington, while rising 44.9% nationally. That equates to 673.7 vehicles stolen for every 100,000 people in Washington state.
Other statistics tell a similar story.
While the rate of robberies in Washington has increased 19.8% over the past five years, robbery rates have decreased nationally by 18.5%.
Violent crime rates have decreased 4.1% nationally in the last five years, but have increased 19.6% in the Evergreen State.
“We were well below the violent crime rate nationwide in 2019,” Strachan said. “Not so long ago, you could view the state of Washington as a pretty low crime state, and we’re now moving in line with the national average and that shouldn’t be acceptable to anyone.”
One of the biggest factors impacting crime rates, according to Strachan, is a lack of law enforcement.
“I think it’s been 14 or 15 years that we’re at the lowest per capita law enforcement in the nation,” said Strachan, pointing out that despite major efforts to recruit and retain officers, the state is not keeping up.
“We’re further behind than we were before,” he said. “Last year, there was a net gain of a little less than 100 officers statewide. So while the number did go up, the population went up so we lost ground per capita.”
The per capita rate of law enforcement officers fell to 1.35 per thousand residents statewide in 2023. The national average is about 2.31.
“There are some agencies having really great success in hiring and some that don’t have any vacancies right now and are fully staffed,” Strachan said, adding that’s the first time that’s happened in several years.
Law enforcement agencies across the state lost countless officers during the protests and riots that followed the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 and the subsequent movement to defund police departments.
Many agencies also lost officers to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The Washington State Patrol lost 127 officers and staff members who refused to get the vaccine.
“I’m hearing from other agencies, and unfortunately Seattle is one of those that are still way behind and not gaining ground,” Strachan noted.
“Themes I’m seeing in agencies that are able to hire is support from the community, and that’s something that Seattle has struggled with, though I think they’re starting to do better with that,” he said.
In a WASPC news release this week, the group called on policy makers to provide a balanced public safety approach.
“That respects victims, provides for adequate and meaningful consequences for criminal behavior, supports fair and transparent policing, and increases staffing and support for law enforcement,” the news release said.
Strachan said WASPC will be going back to lawmakers ahead of the 2025 legislative session to make the same request they did last year: $100 million to hire more police officers.
He said even if that request is granted, Washington would still likely be in last place among all states for the number of police officers per capita.
