Commissioner Joshua Wilson called the Lake Stevens Civil Service Commission to order on Jan. 9, 2025, and the panel formally elected Commissioner Ray Mitchell as the commission chair for 2025 and Commissioner Brian McManus as vice chair.

The votes came at the start of a short meeting that also approved the Nov. 21, 2024, minutes and heard a staffing and recruiting update from Deputy Police Chief Young and Chief Examiner Julie Good about the Lake Stevens Police Department’s hiring pipeline.

The appointment vote

Commissioner Joshua Wilson moved to appoint Ray Mitchell as chair and Brian McManus as vice chair; Commissioner Brian McManus seconded the motion. Commissioners Ray Mitchell, Brian McManus and Joshua Wilson voted in favor and the motion passed.

Minutes and adjournment

Commissioners then approved the Nov. 21, 2024 minutes by motion of Commissioner Ray Mitchell, seconded by Commissioner Joshua Wilson; the motion passed by roll call. Commissioners later moved and seconded a motion to adjourn; that motion also passed unanimously.

Staffing and recruiting update

Deputy Police Chief Young and Chief Examiner Julie Good gave the commission a detailed staffing briefing. Young said the department has "almost every position filled" but currently has three vacancies that the city council will authorize later in the year. Young said two of the allocated vacancies will be authorized in the third quarter and one is currently authorized.

Chief Young reported the department currently has six officers who are not deployable because they are on approved leave or for other reasons. He said the department has six applicants in its Guardian hiring queue, one candidate scheduled for a command interview and others awaiting completion of their personal history statements.

Julie Good said the department now has 95 candidates on the entry-level eligibility list. "I think bringing some of that public safety testing here to Lake Stevens has been a big part of that," Good said, noting the city hosts written and physical ability testing and plans sessions in June and again in the fall.

Recruiting pipeline and timeline

Young said a recently opened regional academy (the transcript referred to a "Northern Academy") should shorten time-to-academy attendance from several months to "about 30 to 60 days" for some candidates. He estimated academy instruction runs about 18 weeks and said that, while candidates are hired before academy, it can take roughly "6 to 9 months" from hiring to fully cleared street duty when field training and other requirements are included.

On processing time, Young said timelines vary by candidate. He estimated that once a candidate completes the personal history statement it can be "around 2 months" from that point through background investigation, polygraph, medical and psychological testing to a final offer in straightforward cases; more complex backgrounds take longer.

Recruiting outreach and laterals

Good said the department is advertising on lateralpolicejobs.com and other national and local venues to attract experienced lateral officers, and that some partner agencies are reducing staffing—creating potential lateral hires. Good and Young said that of the officers currently in the training pipeline three are in the academy, and the department expects roughly three more officers in training by the end of March.

Request for demographic data

Commissioner Joshua Wilson asked the department to provide demographic data on both the current workforce and the applicant pool at a future meeting. Good said the department can pull a report but cautioned the data are voluntary and therefore incomplete.

Why this matters

Commissioners framed the update as a check on the department’s ability to maintain patrol staffing and public safety coverage as retirements, leaves and regional hiring dynamics evolve. The commission recorded no formal change to hiring policy; the meeting produced direction only to provide requested workforce and applicant demographic information at a future meeting.

Adjournment

After the staffing discussion the commission moved to adjourn; the motion passed and the meeting closed.