‘We want you to feel safe.’ Tacoma police chief outlines plan to decrease violent crime

In the last 12 months, violent crime in Tacoma has nearly doubled. On Tuesday, Police Chief Avery Moore presented a three-phase plan to decrease it.

At the City Council study session, Moore presented the Tacoma Police Department Crime Reduction Plan less than a week after the deadly shooting of a 14-year-old girl.

Moore partnered with criminologists at the University of Texas at San Antonio to develop the plan with the goal of reducing the number of victims, increasing community trust and increasing the number of residents who feel safe. The plan is data driven and 100% evidence based, Moore said.

“Our overall message is we want you to feel safe,” Moore said in an interview following the presentation.

Mayor Victoria Woodards said crime is one of the biggest issues facing Tacoma.

“Our community needs this, and we need it now evidenced by the loss of a 14-year-old girl, Iyana, last week in our community,” she said.

Hot-spot policing

Hot-spot policing, the first phase, has started to be implemented across Tacoma. Hot-spot policing will focus on violence-prone addresses (24 addresses account for 12 percent of violent crime in Tacoma) and increase police visibility at or near those locations to deter violent offenders. Police officers will turn on the lights on their cars for 15 minutes per every hour during peak crime hours.

“High visibility does have an impact,” Moore said. “We can’t be everywhere at all times, but where we can be based on our data, that’s where we’re going to be with the idea of making people safe.”

Moore speculated the increase of violent crime was because of the lack of police visibility.

Mike Smith, the criminal justice department chair at UTSA, said during the plan’s presentation that violent crime tends to be concentrated at commercial establishments in Tacoma. He said violence in other larger cities is generally concentrated at multi-family dwellings.

Deputy Mayor Catherine Ushka, the District 4 council member, said her neighbors have told her they are afraid to go outside. She said the messaging of the illuminated lights should be clear to Tacoma residents.

“Right now, if you see lights, it means something terrible is happening and you need to hunker down,” Ushka said.

Moore said in an interview that residents should “read the room” by determining why police are present in a particular area. If a location is “hot” or a crime has recently been committed, police will have put up a barrier and there will be multiple officers. If the officer is hot-spot policing, the officer is likely to be sitting by a shopping strip with their patrol car’s lights on.

The police chief said the hot-spot policing plan is tailored to be successful even with a shortage of police officers. The department is currently down 47 officers, he said.

Rob Tillyer, an UTSA associate professor of criminal justice, said displacement, which is when crime moves elsewhere, generally does not happen with hot-spot policing. The police department with the help of University of Texas at San Antonio will evaluate changes in crime every 90 days to potentially add emerging hot spots and remove “cooled” hot spots.

Smith said it is not unusual that, after an area has cooled off, that it will remain cool for an extended period.

Council member Keith Blocker, who represents District 3, said he wants the Police Department to go beyond hot-spot policing and ensure it is providing resources needed for the community.

“Are we bringing our community resources?” Blocker asked. “Are we doing a career drive? We’re talking about poverty driven, property crime driving areas that are lacking resources… We know that infusing these communities with additional resources will help.”

Problem-oriented, place-based policing

The second phase is problem-oriented, place-based policing, which addresses conditions that contribute to recurring problems at crime-prone locations. Tillyer said crime happens in particular areas because there is a vulnerable victim – either a person or a building, a motivated offender and the lack of a capable guardian.

“The goal of this phase is to start to build an understanding of what are the particular things that are going on in this place that cause this opportunity structure to occur,” Tillyer said at the study session.

He added the phase would bring in stakeholders, like the city attorney, Tacoma Public Schools, Metro Parks Tacoma, Public Works and more.

At-large council member Kiara Daniels said she wants the crime-reduction plan to include youth and youth engagement, like through summer programs and after-school programs.

The second phase would be implemented 6 to 12 months after hot-spot policing begins and might have budget requirements.

Focused deterrence

Focused deterrence, the third phase, would begin 6 to 12 months after problem-oriented, place-based policing begins. Tacoma Police Department will intervene with repeat and high-risk violent offenders to offer them alternatives to crime with services, including counseling, job training, education, housing, job placement and substance-use treatment. If the offender continues to commit crimes, they will be prosecuted.

“We’re going to weed out the people who need to be weeded out, i.e., go to jail,” Moore said. “… This is about deterring crime, but if you’re not smart enough to know that you shouldn’t commit, then you’re going to jail.”

Council member Joe Bushnell said we cannot stop crime with policing alone, and everyone needs to help to reduce the number of victims. He supported the fact the plan isn’t focused solely on arresting people.

Moore said Tacoma residents could help the plan be successful by being a guardian, as opposed to someone that complains. Policing is inclusive of everybody, he said.

“You don’t have to see it and be hidden,” he said. “It’s always better to let people know, ‘I’ve seen it,’ because people don’t want to get caught.”

Woodards called on Tacoma residents to help turn the corner together, and, if you see something, say something.

Deputy police chief Paul Junger said residents could help by reporting a streetlight out to 311 and picking up trash.

Equity and fairness

The crime-reduction plan is data driven, relies on objective indicators of crime, offending and victimization and is racially and ethnicity-neutral, the criminologist said.

“It doesn’t rely on over-policing,” Smith said. “It doesn’t rely on aggressive and divisive practices like stop and frisk that have been used in other places. It doesn’t rely on racial stereotyping. It doesn’t rely on discretionary practices of the police that have been shown to be problematic in some other places as well.”

Smith said the criminologists will relentlessly evaluate the strategy of the crime reduction plan.

This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 5:31 PM.