EVERETT — Murder, sex crimes and other violent offenses were down last year in Snohomish County, according to an annual report released July 28 by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
The organization reported an overall decrease in violent and property crime across the state last year. However, crimes against society, pertaining to drug-related offenses and firearms violations, were up 31% from 2023.
The 590-page report compiled data from over 200 law enforcement agencies, including many in Snohomish County.
The state saw 312 murders in 2024, an 18.8% decrease from 2023, the data says. Crimes against persons decreased by .08%, with domestic violence making up nearly 50% of those crimes, according to the data.
Homicides dropped by 43.7% in Snohomish County while violent crime decreased 5.4%. In 2024, the county recorded 12 murders, just under half the previous year’s total.
In Everett, police reported an 18.7% decrease in overall crime.
In 2024, Everett saw six murders, a 45.5% drop from the previous year. Homicides dropped by 30.7%.
Drug and Narcotic violations increased by 65.6%, rising from 672 in 2023 to 1,113 in 2024, according to the report. Drug equipment violations dropped 1.7%.
Natalie Given, Everett Police Department’s public information officer, attributed the rise to the proactive culture of the department and improved staffing, which gave officers more time to enforce drug violations.
Increased staffing in two specialty units, the Community Bicycle Unit and the Community Response Team, have allowed officers to provide more police services outside of call and response.
“Because we have a Community Response Team and the Community Bicycle Unit now basically at full staffing enforcing a lot of drug violations, you’re seeing the spike in drug crime,” Given said.
The report noted a dramatic drop in burglaries, defined by state law as unlawfully entering a building with a weapon or assaulting a person, by about 40%. Robberies, in which a person uses force to take personal property from another, dropped by about 34% in Everett.
Motor vehicle theft in Everett decreased by 28.3% in 2024, with 356 fewer reported incidents than the previous year.
Rapes dropped 44% while overall sex crimes decreased by 38.6%, according to the report.
Simple assaults, typically a gross misdemeanor, decreased 16.5%. Aggravated assault, a felony that could cause severe bodily harm or death, decreased by 36.4%.
While the Everett Police Department still has vacancies, new safety programs, like drones as first responders, are being implemented to reduce response times and provide officers with information before they arrive on scene.
“I think the future is bright,” Given said. “As we get people trained up to come and work patrol … we can start moving people into those vacancies and improve our functionality across the board.”
Meanwhile, in Marysville, the police department reported an 8.6% decrease in overall crime in 2024. Drug and narcotic violations, however, rose by 39%.
An increase in drug-related violations could be attributed to the change in Washington state drug policy, said Marysville Police Chief Erik Scairpon.
In 2021, the Blake decision ruled that the controlled substance statute violated the state and federal constitutions and was subsequently declared void.
Two years later, the Washington legislature passed Senate Bill 5536, which classified controlled substance possession as a gross misdemeanor.
“We went through a period of time where drugs were almost exclusively legal, and then that didn’t fit the public appetite,” Scairpon said.
“We moved back into the ability to enforce, particularly, use in public.”
Officers reported homicides dropped 100% in 2024, decreasing from four to zero.
Scairpon attributes the drop in overall crime to advancements in technology. Recently, the Marysville police department utilized modern technology, such as doorbell cameras, to solve a homicide in March.
“If you go back in time, there would have been a time where the only way we would have learned anything about that case would have been if somebody came forward and said something,” Scairpon said. “Which would have been extremely difficult.”
Burglaries decreased by over 11.8% while robberies rose by 8.8%. Motor vehicle theft, however, decreased by 29.7%.
Rapes rose by 25.8% from 2023, while other sex crimes increased by 9.2%, according to the report.
Assaults decreased, with simple assaults down 1.2% and aggravated assaults by 4.7%.
As updates in cases continue to arise, changes in the statistics may happen.
“Even if we went back today and pulled our 2024 numbers, they’d be different because cases are continually worked on,” Scairpon said.
Drug-related offenses rose 13% in Snohomish County. Property crimes, however, decreased by 11.9%, according to the report.
Cities like Lynwood, Arlington and Edmonds saw rises in crime, overall.
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan
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