College Place swears in new police captain as chief delivers 2024 annual and bias reports

College Place — On April 8, 2025, the College Place City Council welcomed and swore in Captain Chris Schweigert of the College Place Police Department, and Chief Tamara presented the department's 2024 annual report and a state-required bias-audit report to the council.

The reports summarized staffing and activity data, recent accreditations and technology deployments, and described local crime trends and diversion efforts. Chief Tamara said the department was "very busy" in 2024 and highlighted an increase in arrests, expanded use of drones and a recent reaccreditation with no audit findings.

Why it matters: The annual and bias reports are the department's primary public accounting of enforcement activity, demographics and policy compliance. They guide council oversight and community expectations about public safety, transparency and how grant dollars are used.

Chief Tamara began by outlining agency goals: reduce crime and improve traffic safety, provide quality customer service and innovative policing, recruit and retain a diverse workforce, and collaborate with stakeholders to improve quality of life. She told the council the department was one of the state's fully accredited agencies and had "0 findings in our audit." The accreditation audit was performed by the Washington Association of Sheriff's Police Chiefs (WASPC), she said.

The report included operations and staffing details: 539 arrests in 2024 (a year-over-year increase the chief…