Liberty Lake Police report 10,520 calls in 2024; department highlights staffing, training and use-of-force data

Chief Scott Simmons told the Liberty Lake City Council that the police department closed 2024 with 10,520 calls for service and a staffing increase that left the department better positioned for 2025.

The department ended 2024 with “23 commissioned officers, 2 support staff, and 2 citizen volunteers,” Simmons said. He said the department focused last year on community engagement, updated reporting systems and targeting training to officers’ career paths.

Simmons described investments funded by grants, including $33,273 from the Spirit of Blue Foundation for ballistic body armor and a $23,000 health-and-wellness grant that paid for access to an emergency-responder clinic in Spokane. “We were splitting time between Boise,” Simmons said of the clinic visits, and the new Spokane clinic has already found conditions in officers that the chief said may have been life-saving.

The chief reported 59 adult arrests and six juvenile arrests for 2024, 3,724 traffic stops and 787 citations. On force data he said the department recorded six use-of-force incidents involving 12 employees; in five of those six incidents officers made an arrest. “Our use of force data is pretty low, comparatively speaking,” Simmons said, noting the report does not yet include a December officer-involved shooting pending the ongoing investigation.

Council members pressed the chief on two community concerns. Councilmember Van Orman asked about vehicle break-ins in parks; Simmons said the break-ins hit Liberty Lake and neighboring Post Falls, tied to “target rich environments” where valuables were left in vehicles, and said Spokane County and Liberty Lake investigators were pursuing leads. Councilmember Ball asked why the December officer-involved shooting appears in Liberty Lake’s report; Simmons replied it counts because one of the involved officers serves Liberty Lake. Several councilors asked about jail capacity and medical screening at the Spokane County Jail. Simmons said the county facility is aging and under-resourced for medical and mental-health care, which frequently delays bookings and ties up officer time.

Simmons closed by identifying priorities for records and evidence management: a new automated evidence system, facility remodels tied to an accreditation effort and continued attention to training and equipment. He also thanked records staff for completing 86.5% of public-records requests in 2024.

The council did not take formal action on the report; the presentation will be part of the packet record and available with meeting materials.