To accommodate the growing needs of Tumwater, the city’s police department has developed a plan to show how it aims to improve its services, facilities, staffing, and use of technology across the next five years.
Among these plans include implementing body-worn cameras, a Flock camera system, and several other new programs.
Tumwater Police met with the city council on Tuesday, June 10, to discuss these plans which were packaged in a document called strategic growth plan.
Police Chief John Weiks told the council that in developing the document, the police department and city staff conducted a community survey conducted in 2022 and organized focus groups in 2023 to help guide the direction of the strategic growth plan.
The police chief noted that the estimated cost of implementing its plans from 2025 to 2029 ranges from $6.9 million to $7.4 million.
One of the primary changes residents can expect from the police department is that they will now be using body-won cameras as soon as 2027. The police department will be using the next two years to prepare for the implementation of body-won cameras, which will involve procuring the cameras, hiring new personnel, and developing additional policies.
The police department, if given the funding, aims to hire three personnel — a sergeant, a network specialist, a police service specialist — to support the implementation of body-won cameras. The sergeant will maintain all police equipment and not just cameras, while the network specialist will maintain the department’s software.
The third personnel will work on managing the department’s record management system, software for writing reports and managing data. The implementation of body-worn cameras ties with the procurement of a new records management system which will go live in 2026.
When asked by Councilmember Leatta Dahlhoff if body-worn cameras can be implemented sooner, Weiks explained that they do not have the ability to deploy body-worn cameras and its new record management system at the same time. The police chief added that the contract for their in-car camera system is locked for two more years, so they would want to avoid having different camera platforms if they buy the cameras sooner.
The use of body-worn cameras will also impact the department’s administrative team as footage needs to be processed to comply with privacy laws. Weiks also mentioned that the department will have to negotiate with the police guild for additional pay. The usage of body cameras has been found to impact the mental well-being of officers, according to a previous presentation of the department to the council in April.
Completely independent from body-worn cameras is the installation of Flock Safety, a street camera system that helps identify vehicles related to criminal incidents. The department aims to implement Flock cameras as soon as next year.
The department is looking to hire new officers for specific programs in the next five years. Next year, the department is going to hire a detective to work with Olympia and Lacey for a regional proactive investigations team.
In 2026, the department will hire a business liaison officer to build relationships with the business community so that the department can better understand the community’s public safety needs.
The department will also increase the number of its school resource officers from two to three officers in 2026. The additional officers will be stationed at elementary schools. The department also aims to hire another school resource officer in 2029.
Besides these specialized personnel, the department will hire nine patrol officers over the next five years, two additional sergeants in 2027, and a police service specialist in 2028 to increase the department’s administrative capacity.
Weiks said that without a new facility, none of their plans could come to fruition as their existing building is already full. Part of the strategic growth plan is to lease a new office space which would house the department’s investigations and training units.
The department’s plans also include establishing a volunteer program and a youth academy, increasing the department’s social media presence, and partnering with Lacey for a new training facility to host a Basic Law Enforcement Academy for the county.
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OlyBlues
Lots of demands from the police department and no real explanation why they can't start implementing some of them now other than we need a new building. Tumwater used to have solid volunteer reserve police officer program and chose to eliminate it. Now there is a need for volunteers. With the existing difficulty hiring commissioned officers, why have a Sergeant be in charge of the body camera program and not a civilian? We need all the commissioned personnel on the road. And the city hall expansion citizens already paid for resulted in the new police department, holding cells, offices, and training area. Now they want to spend millions on a new building. This at a time when about 10 patrol cars sit unused in the grass at city hall. Time for a serious reevaluation of priorities and an emphasis on cost savings for Tumwater Police.
Wednesday, June 19 Report this
PamelaJHanson
As Mayor Debbie Sullivan has said in the past, it is all in the ask. She asked for them to ask, so they did. So, with Mayor Debbie Sullivan's reported, and unbelievably atrocious, $1.7 million cost overrun of the Trosper Rd Capitol Blvd roundabout, these are a few of my thoughts: 1) Without even asking weeks ago, the parked police SUV's appeared to be in rotation and prep status. If chase and apprehend efforts, county-wide, escalate due to growth related crime, it is obvious that they will be needed back in service sooner rather than later. Bumpers, cameras and pit maneuver training? You wanna be there? YEA! 2) Both the current crime talent and their determination, paired with our local well-funded harm reduction efforts, make it a reality that law enforcement volunteers should be paid, should be insured, and should have negotiated benefits. With new housing, a new hotel, and various other businesses - there are increasing risks to our current enforcement staff that need to be mitigated with equipment, pay, and staffing levels. 3) Not only do they need their K-9's, they need PENDAR X10's for, in the very least, fentanyl, meth and etc. detection from a distance. 4) Our community is in distress and it is obvious. Even with the amount of taxes that Fred Meyer contributes to our county-wide tax base, they have had to hire “armed licensed security officers” because of in-store incidents so that they can effectively protect their employees from customers. None of the people around me would have realistically predicted thirty years ago that there would be a visible jungle throughout Thurston County and the need for the Tumwater Police Department to be sidelined in their ask for more resources to protect themselves from harm and protect our citizens from harm. I have been this opinionated before and it won't stop. I see no $1.7 Million cost overrun in this law enforcement ask, and I seriously doubt that the No on the RFA group would say so either. What is that overpriced and blinker frustrating roundabout useful for anyway… Dare I say that it could have been accomplished differently? No, not yet.
Wednesday, June 19 Report this
PamelaJHanson
Additional Note To My Comment: My apologies to The Jolt and readers. The context regarding PENDAR is not a corporate sales pitch. The PENDAR X10 is new to daily law enforcement use, can be tested without purchasing if available, and may prevent “officer down” situations as covered in what some may consider “graphic video body cam situations.” It should be in the Tumwater Police Department budget ask. One week ago, Cathleene O'Toole for News Nation included valuable video with her journalism in her online article: Fentanyl detector speeds drug removal, limits officers’ exposure. My sorrow to the fallen victims and families involved in drug prevention, reduction and elimination efforts. Thank you “The Jolt” for publishing the context that hopefully most may appreciate.
Wednesday, June 19 Report this