Lacey police present 2025 statistics, staffing and 2026 priorities

Police Chief Robert Almada briefed the council on the Lacey Police Department's 2025 statistics, staffing and strategic priorities.

Staffing and counts: Chief Almada explained the difference between funded positions and the FBI-style point‑in‑time deployable officer count. Of 72 funded positions, he said the agency reported 56–58 deployable officers at the reporting date because command staff, officers in training, academy recruits and other categories are excluded from the deployable count. Almada said the department currently has several officers in training, four at the academy and two vacancies; he projected deployable numbers should rise later in the year as recruits complete training.

Hiring and training timeline: Almada provided the department's hiring timeline: initial testing and physical job‑fitness steps (about 4 weeks), interviews and background checks (roughly 6–8 weeks for background), polygraph/psych/medical and then academy and field training for a total of about 14–18 months from initial test to fully field‑ready deployment.

Crime and enforcement trends: Almada said calls for service totaled 44,842 in 2025, a 5% increase over 2024 and a 9.5% increase over the five‑year trailing average. He reported motor vehicle thefts and burglaries have fallen sharply (motor vehicle thefts down from 271 in 2022 to 64 in 2025), robberies down roughly 50% year‑over‑year, and arrests peaked in 2024 and declined slightly in 2025. Traffic citations increased notably; Almada said some of these changes reflect increased proactive enforcement and more officers in the field.

Use‑of‑force reporting: Under the state WADEPs reporting standard, Almada said the department had five reportable uses of force; under the department’s broader internal standard there were 48 incidents involving 58 techniques (takedowns, wraps, taser uses, impact weapons and one firearm pointed without discharge). He described the WADEPs criteria (fatality, great bodily harm, discharge or pointing of firearm, choke holds, certain projectiles) and explained that WADEPs reporting began in the fall, so timing affected whether some incidents were reportable under the new standard.

Diversity and priorities: Almada described department demographics (about 61% white, roughly 34% female overall, and 23% female among commissioned officers) and said the department's diversity roughly matches local census and school district composition. His 2026 priorities include crime prevention and suppression, preparing for a new building with updated procedures, policy transition to Lexipol standards, succession planning, recruitment/retention, and wellness programs for staff.

Council thanked the chief and asked follow‑up questions about complainthistory and drug trends; Almada declined to discuss disciplinary details of individual personnel but confirmed one resignation in lieu of termination reported to the regional panel.