EVERETT — The number of violent crimes rose in Washington last year, with the number of murders at their highest level since 1980, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
The organization released its annual crime report Monday and found reports of murders, robberies and serious assaults increased year-over-year. Data in the 593-page report was compiled from 231 law enforcement agencies across the state, including the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and other departments throughout the county.
The number of murders — 394 — was a 16.6% increase from 2021. It’s the most murders recorded since the group began collecting this data in 1980. It is a 96% increase from 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Snohomish County recorded 24 murders, double the previous year. Everett reported 12 murders in 2022, compared to 4 murders the previous year.
“Three-hundred and ninety-four people being murdered in the state of Washington is not OK, it should not be OK with anyone,” WASPC Executive Director Steven Strachan told reporters in a briefing.
While the murder rate was higher in 1994, police staffing has gone down significantly since, Strachan said. If the number of officers employed per capita was the same as in 1994, there would be 2,000 more officers, according to WASPC officials.
Washington has the fewest number of police officers employed per capita in the country, Strachan said. The total number of commissioned officers statewide was 10,666, amounting to 70 fewer from the previous year. The state’s population increased by roughly 93,000 in that time as well.
“It will take years for us to turn that corner, but agencies that are seeing strong community support say they are getting good recruits and beginning to get back on track,” Strachan said.
If the state held the national average of 2.31 sworn officers per 1,000 people, there would be 7,535 more police than currently staffed, authorities said.
The organization said the reduced staffing means there is a more “reactive” response from officers, and less follow-up and investigation after a crime is reported. It also means response times are slower, with fewer officers to “de-escalate” situations, Strachan said.
Meanwhile, there was another sharp decrease in drug crime. There were 1,444 drug arrests, a 33% decrease from the previous year. A 2021 state Supreme Court ruling, known as the Blake decision, established that police could not arrest people on felony charges for simple drug possession. It has led to dramatic decreases in drug arrests.
Recently, local leaders in Snohomish County have moved to pass legislation trying to deal with illegal drug possession, when state lawmakers failed to agree on a long-term strategy during the regular legislative session. The state House and Senate later passed a “fix” to the gap in state law in May, officially making possession a misdemeanor.
Strachan said he doesn’t expect an increase in drug arrests in the next year.
Property crimes and hate crimes were among some of the notable findings in the report. There were 544 hate crimes reported in 2022, an 8.2% decrease from 2021. Motor vehicle theft rose 34%, following a trend in recent years — auto thefts had increased by 27% in 2021.
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @EDHJonTall.
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