Ellensburg police report lowest NIBRS crime rate on record but note rising mental-health calls

Ellensburg Police Chief Ken Wade told the City Council on Sept. 15 that the department’s 2024 crime report shows an overall decline in reported crime under the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), but that calls related to mental health continue to grow and remain a major operational concern.

“In 2024 we handled 16,018 calls and reported 1,183 NIBRS-related offenses,” Chief Wade said. “We made 447 group A NIBRS arrests, a decrease of 12 percent, and our NIBRS data has shown us 56.4 percent — an 11 percent decrease compared to 2023.” He said that since the department implemented an evidence-based policing model in mid-2022, the city’s crime rate measured by these data has dropped about 28 percent.

Why it matters: City leaders and the public use NIBRS and other locally collected metrics to judge public safety and staffing needs. Chief Wade framed the trends as a success for targeted, data-driven enforcement while identifying mental-health crises as an unresolved driver of calls for service.

Key findings reported by Chief Wade: - Total calls: 16,018 in 2024 (about 5 percent fewer than 2023). - NIBRS offenses: 1,183 (an 11 percent decrease from 2023). - Group A NIBRS arrests: 447 (down 12 percent). - Juvenile arrests: 74 in 2024, down from 92 in 2023 (about a 20 percent reduction). - Motor vehicle thefts: fell from 48 in 2023 to 14 in 2024 (about a 70 percent reduction). - Domestic violence-related offenses: 176 in 2024, down from 206 in 2023.

Chief Wade also presented program-level work: the department’s “Handle With Care” program reported 286 children under 18 identified as having experienced an adverse exposure event (data snapshot to July 2, 2025). He said the department has increased referrals to behavioral-health partners, and that year-to-date 2025 mental-health calls were down about 30 percent compared with an earlier peak, though Chief Wade cautioned that overall mental-health contacts remain well above historic levels.

Community engagement and prevention: Chief Wade described multiple prevention efforts, including juvenile education, a graffiti abatement partnership with parks and utilities, a high-density residential project with an apartment manager to reduce calls, and an alarm-reduction outreach that led to fewer false alarms. He said the department’s “precision policing” uses data to target a small number of people and places that account for a disproportionate share of calls.

Public questions and council discussion: Councilmembers asked whether statewide decreases mirrored the city’s trends. Chief Wade said the statewide crime decrease was modest (0.8 percent) while Ellensburg’s drop was larger, and he said that difference suggests local programs contributed to the city’s results. When a resident asked how parents can reduce juvenile involvement with police, Chief Wade described work with schools, the Department of Children, Youth & Families and local health partners to expand parenting supports, first-time-parent education and referrals to counseling.

What this did not change: No new ordinances, budget allocations or staffing commitments were made during the presentation. Chief Wade asked council to continue supporting cross-sector partners and training programs to address mental-health needs.

Ending: Chief Wade closed by thanking officers and partners and asking the community to continue reporting issues that can be addressed through prevention and targeted enforcement.