2022/12/07 Council Agenda Packet

2. APPLICATION A. Narrative a. Organization information The Everett Police Department serves a diverse community of over 111,000 people with major employers including Naval Station Everett and Boeing's Everett Production Facility. Our team, when fully staffed, includes 215 sworn police positions and 36 civilian support staff. In addition to our officers on the street and detectives conducting complex investigations, Everett PD maintains a long list of specialty assignments that includes School Resource Officers, an Anti - Crime Team, Gang Response Unit, Marine Operation Unit, Traffic Safety Unit, a full time Training Unit, a full time Recruiting Officer and much more. We also participate in regional collaborations such as the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force and the Snohomish County Regional SWAT Team Everett PD has eight chaplains, as well as a peer support team comprised of four mental health professionals, who assist officers when needed. b. Mission, goals, and challenges At Everett PD, we believe in building strong and safe communities within the city we serve. Our mission is to work in partnership with the community to enhance the quality of life and reduce crime through our core values of integrity, professionalism, and honor. Challenges we currently face include severe understaffing. This is due in part to a shortage of new recruits and lateral hires, as well as an exodus of experienced officers retiring or pursuing new careers. As a result, we have fewer officers to serve our growing city and respond to the rising incidences of crime we're experiencing. It's also created a strain on officers who increasingly are called in to fill overtime shifts when others use vacation or sick leave, or attend mandatory trainings. Another set of challenges stem from recently enacted state legislation, which has constrained the authority of police officers to effectively abate crime in our city. Criminals are more emboldened than ever to commit crimes, knowing that officers are now limited in how they can respond. This not only affects the morale of our current force, but also makes our job more dangerous. Additionally, it deters lateral officers from other states from pursuing careers with our department, further exacerbating our staffing challenges. And, our officers are still impacted by the loss of our colleague, Officer Dan Rocha, who was killed in the line of duty earlier this year. Many still carry the stress of his loss. This stress can manifest itself into sleepless nights, poor eating Page 2of5