EDMONDS — Edmonds police should get body cameras, minimize excessive traffic stops and hire more officers, an external audit of the department recommends.
The Center for Public Safety Management, a Washington D.C. firm that conducted the audit released last week, lists more than 100 suggestions for the Edmonds Police Department, ranging from more efficient investigations into complaints against officers, to decreasing lengthy response times on high-priority calls.
“The number of recommendations should in no way be interpreted as an indictment of what we consider to be a fine department,” the audit notes. CPSM specifically commended the department’s training, the reported lack of use of force and the officers’ dedication to the community.
The audit finds Edmonds police at a crossroads. The department can continue its small-town, community-oriented approach to policing, or it can staff up to respond to increasing demand in a growing city. And the findings come with the arrival of a new police chief. Last month, Michelle Bennett was picked to fill the position permanently.
“It really is a really great opportunity to really shape and mold the next generation of our police force,” Mayor Mike Nelson told The Daily Herald.
He ballparked the audit’s cost at around $80,000 for the city.
CPSM urges the department to purchase body-worn cameras to increase transparency and improve relations with the community. Bennett wrote in a response to the firm’s recommendations that the department is including funding for the equipment in its 2022 budget request to the city. It is also beginning a body camera pilot project this month. Nelson said he also will include body cameras in his budget request.
Many Snohomish County law enforcement agencies are working to buy the technology in the face of a new law requiring the recording of interrogations in felony cases and cases involving juveniles.
On top of the body cameras, CPSM urged the department to get automated external defibrilators in as many police vehicles as possible. At least one patrol car should be equipped with an AED at all times, according to the center. Bennett said AEDs will likely be deployed in 2022.
The auditors also say the department could work to lower its use of traffic stops. In 2019, Edmonds police engaged in nearly 3,700 stops, “an enormous amount of activity,” according to the audit. But the number of stops might not correlate directly with improving safety on the city’s roads. CPSM recommends Edmonds police “minimize, or discontinue altogether, routine traffic stops.” Routine stops were defined as those “not connected to traffic safety.”
Instead, the audit suggests, the department could consider more red-light cameras and electronic speed signs in high-traffic areas, like Highway 99. CPSM also recommends the department keep track of the age, gender and race of every driver stopped in Edmonds to identify any biases. That information should be released publicly every year.
Bennett reported the focus on routine traffic enforcement has been reduced.
The department currently has eight vacant commissioned officer positions. These vacancies have forced the department and its 56 patrol officers to work at minimum staffing numbers on a daily basis, according to the audit. Staff should quickly fill those vacant spots, CPSM argues.
Part of the problem, the report notes, is Edmonds doesn’t offer a competitive package of pay and benefits compared to other departments for new officers. The city does offer more competitive compensation for experienced officers.
CPSM recommends the department focus its recruitment efforts on women, who currently make up 14% of the department, and form a dedicated recruitment team. The audit also suggests the city pay more to bring in new officers. The city is looking into hiring bonuses, Bennett responded.
In a city of more than 42,000 residents, Edmonds boasts lower violent and property crime rates compared to the rest of the state, according to FBI data. In 2019, it had a violent crime rate of 202 per 100,000 and a property crime rate of 2,107 per 100,000. Lynnwood’s numbers, by comparison, were 291 and 4,775.
But while crime dropped statewide over the last decade, it remained relatively stable in Edmonds.
And in 2019, Edmonds had its highest violent crime rate of the last decade.
Edmonds police were dispatched to about 24,000 calls that year. That’s 67 per day. The auditors argued the department could be more efficient. For example, it could stop responding to most alarm calls. In 2019, the department received almost 1,400 alarms, most of them false.
The department also could curtail its response to minor car collisions if the only damage is to property, the auditors suggested. Fender-benders likely took up around 1,000 hours of officer time in 2019. Police could similarly minimize their response to calls where no crime has been committed, like fire, medical and other assistance, where their presence isn’t necessary.
These three categories — false alarms, traffic accidents and assists — made up almost a quarter of Edmonds police calls in 2019. Resources could instead be allocated to where police response might be more necessary, CPSM recommends.
“If the EPD wants to leverage the patrol function to commit to a strategic approach to issues, engage in crime prevention, traffic enforcement, community engagement, etc. it will fail because officers on patrol will not have the time,” CPSM writes in the audit.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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