Police chief outlines data-driven crime prevention program and new analyst hire

Chief Simmons presented the Liberty Lake Police Department's crime-prevention program to the council on March 18, describing a shift toward data-driven patrols and community-focused prevention.

The chief said the department uses proactive and reactive tactics, including vehicle and foot patrols, bike patrols, prowl checks, emphasis patrols and public education. To support a more analytical approach, the department recently hired a crime analyst to process call and patrol data and help direct patrol resources. "We really focused on documenting our crime prevention activities this year," the chief said, adding the analyst will help answer citizen questions such as "how often are you in our neighborhood?" Staff briefed council on how the crime-prevention program is classified within the city's priority-based budgeting (service type: community) and explained how personnel and nonpersonnel costs are allocated.

The chief said Liberty Lake continues to show low violent- and property-crime rates and referenced community-satisfaction survey results that show residents report feeling safer year to year. He also said the department aims to move up a statewide list of safest cities (the department cited a prior ranking of 19th). Council members thanked the chief for the program overview and the emphasis on documenting activities for transparency to residents.

The presentation was informational; council did not take any action on the program itself.