Tumwater Police report: staffing, technology and training priorities as chief retires

Acting Chief Jay Mason presented the Tumwater Police Department’s 2024 annual report at the council work session on April 22, summarizing staffing, calls for service, training and technology initiatives and outlining near‑term priorities while Chief Wicks is on leave.

Mason said the department’s full authorized staff level for 2025–26 is 48 full‑time equivalents (FTEs) and the department was staffed at about 43 FTEs at the time of the presentation. He described the department organization (command staff, patrol squads, investigations, training/technology and administration) and said patrol is the primary 24/7 operational unit. Key 2024 figures Mason cited included roughly 19,000 calls for service (about 53 calls per day), 878 arrests or referrals and 1,567 public records requests handled.

Mason listed accomplishments in 2024: completion of a strategic growth plan with community focus‑group input; near‑full staffing for a period in early 2025; nearly 3,800 hours of officer training; closing 24 code enforcement cases; presentation at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference on evidence‑based processes for small agencies; implementation of a new radio system in partnership with TCOM; and contracting to lead a multijurisdictional records management consortium (LERMS) with neighboring agencies.

On 2025 priorities, Mason said the department is pursuing improved community communication, accelerated body‑worn camera implementation (subject to a technology selection and staffing of a technical sergeant to manage the project), completion of the new records management system, and modest facility reconfiguration to meet security and technology needs as the department grows. Mason said the department requested eight additional officers in the 2025–26 budget but that none were funded; he noted the typical time from hiring to independent field operations is about 18 months and full proficiency can take 22–30 months.

Council members asked about license‑plate‑reader technology (a vendor called Flock was discussed by residents and an HOA); Mason said he sees potential value in license‑plate readers for investigative capacity and cited a recent homicide arrest in which a Flock camera helped produce a hit. He repeatedly said the department will not move forward without policy discussion and that body‑worn camera implementation and records management need to be in place before major new surveillance technologies are added. Council members asked for any future Flock or other automated‑license‑plate‑reader proposals to include policy details on data access, retention and external sharing.

Mason also discussed facility needs: the department will upfit vacated basement city hall space for near‑term needs while staff and council consider longer‑term facility options; councilmembers asked whether partnership with the Thurston County Sheriff’s new facility had been considered, and Mason said the department is open to partnerships but needs near‑term space and that long‑term options will be part of city facilities planning.

Mason acknowledged Chief Wicks’s pending retirement and described succession steps taken (acting command assignments, internal testing for acting lieutenant and sergeant, and multiple officers in training). He said the department is recruiting for several civil‑service positions and an IT support role tied to records and body‑worn camera work.

• Key excerpts from the meeting: “We responded in 2024 to about 19,000 calls for service,” Mason said. “Our staffing level for 2025–26 is 48 FTEs and we were staffed at 43 at the time of this report.”

• Context: The department is leading a regional records consortium and preparing to implement body‑worn cameras; any policy for automated plate readers will require council discussion and agreed privacy/retention rules.