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Everett police outline prevention–intervention–enforcement plan as juvenile firearm arrests rise
Summary
Police presented a three-part youth-safety strategy and youth advisory board members described outreach and school panels; the department reported juvenile firearm-related arrests and gang-related juvenile suspects are up about 23% while juvenile victimization is down about 20%.
Robert Gets, chief of police, told the Community Health & Safety Committee on April 1 that the city’s approach to youth violence is built around prevention, intervention and enforcement and that the work “is truly a whole community effort.”
Gets said prevention centers on school-based engagement by school resource officers (SROs), noting SROs are assigned to Everett High School, Cascade High School, North Explore Eisenhower and Evergreen Middle Schools. He said one of two SRO vacancies was filled in 2025 and the department expects to fill the final vacancy by the start of the 2026–27 school year to return to fuller coverage.
The department highlighted youth programs intended to build positive connections, including the Casino Road Soccer Camp, a police STEM Academy and a new Boys and Girls Club site near Casino Road. Two members of the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board, Kylie and Eva, told the committee YAB has 16 members and is leading a youth safety social-media campaign and organizing safety panels with Mayor Franklin and the chief at four local schools.
On intervention, Gets said officers and partner programs are referring young people to services: since September 2025 the department has referred 10 youth to the Access Project and earlier referred 12 youth to a Latino Civic Alliance “Jaguar” leadership program (that program is currently on hold while it seeks funding). The department also named Lieutenant John Carr as a liaison to the HearMe Washington anonymous reporting program; Gets said the city had not yet received referrals through that portal.
Turning to enforcement, Gets said juvenile suspect counts are “relatively flat, down about 2% compared to the last 3 years,” but that more serious juvenile-involved activity is up: “juvenile firearm related arrests and gang related juvenile suspects are up about 23%,” he said. He also said juvenile victimization is down about 20%.
Gets cited a recent example in which volunteers and an automated license-plate-reader system helped identify a vehicle that returned to a spray-painted area, leading to the arrest of juveniles and recovery of several stolen firearms. He said the department is also exploring another ‘‘Guns for Gift Card’’ turn-in event in 2026, pending funding.
Council members asked whether a significant share of violent incidents were committed by people coming into Everett from outside the city. Gets said he did not have the data on hand but that, anecdotally, some perpetrators are nonresidents and he offered to provide the committee with data on violent-crime suspects’ city residency.
The committee did not take formal action on any of the programs discussed; staff said several initiatives depend on continued funding and partnership work with service providers.
