Former sheriff candidate Patti Jackson appointed Tacoma’s interim police chief
Former candidate for Pierce County sheriff and longtime Corrections Bureau Chief Patti Jackson was appointed Tuesday as the Tacoma Police Department’s interim police chief following former Chief Avery Moore’s resignation.
Tacoma City Manager Elizabeth Pauli announced the pick in a press release, stating that Jackson had proven experience leading the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office’s Patrol Operations and before that, serving as Corrections Bureau Chief overseeing the operations of the County Jail for eight years.
Throughout Jackson’s 35-year career in law enforcement, the city said, she has prioritized strengthening trust between law enforcement and the community.
“Protecting people with compassion, equity, accountability, and trust is one of the most important responsibilities in local government,” Pauli said in a written statement.
“I am confident the Tacoma Police Department will benefit from the relationships she has built and the lines of communication she has opened. She is also uniquely positioned to provide both informed leadership and a fresh perspective. She will lead the department forward through this transition while providing a thorough and objective assessment at all levels,” Pauli added.
Jackson, 60, narrowly lost her bid to become Pierce County’s new sheriff to former Seattle Police Department captain Keith Swank in the 2024 general election. After former Sheriff Ed Troyer chose not to run for reelection, he gave Jackson his endorsement to lead the Sheriff’s Office, but she lost to Swank by 2.02 percent of the vote. Swank started his tenure with the Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 1 and was officially sworn in Jan. 15.
The city said Jackson currently serves as the Basic Law Enforcement Academy corrections commander at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. According to the release, she will lead the Police Department until the City Manger identifies — and the City Council confirms — a permanent police chief. The recruitment process will begin next month and will seek input from the community.
“The Tacoma Police Department has significantly lowered violent crime levels and built strong community relationships, especially in the past few years,” Jackson said in the announcement. “I look forward to prioritizing public safety while strengthening established relationships and fostering new ones. I also look forward to building trust amongst the Tacoma Police Department’s employees, both sworn and civilian. In order to move this department and city forward safely, I will need their support and guidance.”
The city’s announcement said Jackson’s career has given her experience negotiating union contracts, preparing budgets, and mentoring colleagues into leadership positions. The city said she had also demonstrated a commitment to holding those who break the law accountable while showing empathy for those experiencing homelessness, addiction challenges, and mental health troubles.
Paul Junger, who served as Moore’s deputy chief and later, acting police chief when Moore was placed on administrative leave last year, released a statement Tuesday saying he had full confidence in Pauli’s decision to appoint Jackson. He said it ensured “stability and progress” for the department and the community.
“As we move forward, I remain committed to supporting Interim Police Chief Jackson in any way that best serves both the Tacoma community and the employees of the Tacoma Police Department, whom I have come to know and appreciate,” Junger said.
Moore’s resignation was effective Monday after he submitted his letter of resignation to Pauli last week. He said he was choosing to leave law enforcement after a decades-long career that included three years in Tacoma he said were “particularly rewarding.”
The former chief came from the Dallas Police Department in 2021 where he was the assistant chief of its investigations bureau. After he was hired in Tacoma to replace retiring Chief Don Ramsdell, Moore, then 55, said he and the Police Department would make Tacoma the “safest city in the country.”
Moore partnered with the University of Texas in San Antonio to develop and implement a Violent Crime Reduction Plan, which he debuted in July 2022 as a phased approach to cutting down on crime. It started with having officers drive to areas identified as “hot spots” of violent crime at peak times to activate patrol car lights to deter criminal activity. Later phases were more focused on addressing root causes of crime by working with city and state partners.
The year the plan was launched was Tacoma’s worst year for homicides on record with 45 killings. Since then, homicides have decreased each year, down to 22 in 2024.
Moore sometimes butted heads with members of the police union, particularly after he made statements following the resignation of three police officers acquitted of murder or manslaughter in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis in police custody.
After the city paid $1.5 million to secure their resignations, Moore put out a press release acknowledging the department’s “incomplete achievement of reform goals” and the “detrimental impact of policing on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.”
Sgt. Henry Betts, president of Tacoma Police Union Local 6 told a conservative radio show, “The Jason Rantz Show,” at the time that the statements showed a disconnect between leadership and the department’s rank-and-file officers and detectives.
More recently, Moore was investigated for his use of a city-issued phone while on a family vacation in Sweden. He was placed on administrative leave in September after he racked up more than $1,000 in international charges for GPS navigation in July.
A third-party investigation concluded that Moore didn’t deliberately lie to city officials about the phone charges, which he repaid.
This story was originally published February 4, 2025 at 4:49 PM.
