Latest news with #KellyBusey
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Are police departments in Tacoma, Pierce County as diverse as their communities?
In 2020, the largest police departments in Pierce County were markedly whiter than the communities their officers served, data shows. In the years since, those police forces have become a bit more diverse. But progress is slow. Police departments in Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Ruston and the Sheriff's Office each added more nonwhite officers in the five years since the start of 2020, according to public records released to The News Tribune, and they reduced their proportions of white officers. But the police departments in the county that The News Tribune reviewed data for remained, on average, 81 percent white in 2024. Looking at how the diversity of police departments stacked up against their communities at the start of the decade, rather than in a more recent year, provides an accurate comparison. It's the last year the Census was conducted, which according to the U.S. Census Bureau, counts every living person in the country and its territories. The American Community Survey, which provides yearly estimates about the population, is a sample survey, and it can be less accurate for small areas such as the City of Ruston. Pierce County has 19 law enforcement agencies, and The News Tribune requested racial demographic data from the largest of them along with a few smaller departments. Nine of those police departments shared data with The News Tribune or released it through public records requests. According to experts who study criminal justice, having a law enforcement agency that looks more like the people it polices can be beneficial to changing a department's culture or improving residents' interactions with police. Some of the county's most diverse cities, Lakewood and Tacoma, had the biggest racial disparities in 2020. That year the Lakewood Police Department, the third largest law enforcement agency in the county, was 26 percent whiter than the city's population. Smaller, more rural police departments did not have as large of gaps between the share of white police officers and white residents — helped along by lower racial diversity in their populations — but they also were not as diverse as larger, urban departments. The Orting Police Department, for example, became all white in the last five years. It lost its only Hispanic or Latino officer by 2023 in a city that was nine percent Hispanic or Latino in 2020. The outlier was Gig Harbor, which had a greater proportion of police officers who are Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino in 2024 compared to the city's 2020 population. The police department was also less white compared to the community. The Gig Harbor Police Department did not provide data for 2020 to 2023. Police Chief Kelly Busey said they had 'very little' turnover and that their numbers were fairly consistent with the past five years. While about half of the police agencies The News Tribune received data from had some diversity gains, few managed to increase their department's number of officers who identified as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino — only Tacoma and the Pierce County Sheriff's Office did so. Among larger departments, the Sheriff's Office was closest to having a percentage of Black law enforcement officers in 2020 that lined up with the county's racial demographics. The Sheriff's Office under-represented Black officers by about 1 percent. The Sheriff's Office caught up in the following years, according to demographic data from the state's Office of Financial Management. It was 7.3 percent white in 2024, slightly over-representing Black officers compared to the 2024 population. Most commonly, diversity gains in large departments were driven by growing numbers of Asian officers and a small decrease in numbers of white officers. Martina Morris is a member of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability and a former statistics professor at the University of Washington who helped review the police department data and Census data for this story. She told The News Tribune she thinks building more diverse police departments helps establish trust in the community and can help reduce the kind of escalation that can lead to unnecessary deaths. 'Part of it is the cultural awareness, and so you know how to interpret behaviors, words, actions that come from communities that might be more similar to you,' Morris said. 'And you know how to respond in a way that is understandable as well.' As one example of white police officers unnecessarily escalating an incident with a person of color, Morris pointed to the 2013 death of Leonard Thomas, an unarmed Black man killed by a Pierce County Metro SWAT sniper with the Lakewood Police Department. When U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein upheld a $15.1 million jury verdict against the city of Lakewood, then-Police Chief Mike Zaro and two other officers in 2018, she said the defendants escalated the probability that someone would die 'at every step.' A more diverse police force isn't a panacea to racial disparities in policing. Morris said changes in training and policy are needed to reduce fatalities. Several police departments said they have made intentional efforts to hire more racially diverse officers. The Tacoma Police Department said it has used targeted recruitment strategies, including going to job fairs such as the Historically Black Colleges and Universities' Legacy Bowl Career Fair as well as recruiting at community events such as Tacoma's Lunar New Year Festival and at Juneteenth celebrations. Tacoma police also posted job openings and recruiting material on various online platforms and partnered with a marketing firm to launch a recruiting website with the tagline, 'Reflect Tacoma | Protect Tacoma.' 'While we know that change doesn't happen overnight, we're encouraged by the progress we've made and remain committed to building a department that reflects the diversity of Tacoma's residents — across race, gender, and background,' the Tacoma Police Department's recruiting division said in a written statement. Gig Harbor police have similarly updated recruiting materials to reflect the diversity of its department. Shannon Costanti, the agency's Human Resources manager, said doing so is meant to attract and engage candidates to 'tell the story' about its diverse workforce. She said the efforts are 'impossible' to measure in relation to hiring outcomes, but HR would like to believe it's a small part of making a difference over time. 'I am pleased to have such a diverse force working for our community,' Busey said. The Sheriff's Office said it too had made a concerted effort to hire and recruit more officers of color. Carly Cappetto, a spokesperson for the agency, said the Sheriff's Office also focused the videos it posts on social media to be 'inclusive and representative of all demographics.' Before Cappetto was the Sheriff's Office's public information officer, the position was held by Lt. Darren Moss Jr. for several years, a familiar face to anyone who followed the law enforcement agency on social media or watched TV news reports about the office. 'Darren drew a large amount of attention to people of color for our office and represented excellence in his work as a person of color,' Cappetto said. Tacoma Tacoma Police Department, 2024 (did not provide number of officers) White: 74.27% Black or African American: 6.43% Hispanic or Latino: 9.06% Asian: 4.39% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.58% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 2.34% Two or more races: 2.92% Tacoma population 2020 White: 53.6% Black or African American: 9.8% Hispanic or Latino: 14% Asian: 8.7% American Indian or Alaska Native: 1.2% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 2.7% Two or more races: 9.4% Some other race: 0.6% Pierce County Sheriff's Office, 2024 (315 officers) White: 73.02% Black or African American: 7.3% Hispanic or Latino: 7.94% Asian: 6.98% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.32% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0% Two or more races: 2.22% Decline/unknown: 2.22% Pierce County population 2020 White: 61.9% Black or African American: 6.8% Hispanic or Latino: 12.1% Asian: 6.7% American Indian or Alaska Native: 1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 2% Two or more races: 8.8% Some other race: 0.6% Lakewood Lakewood Police Department, 2024 (98 officers) White: 69.39% Black or African American: 4.08% Hispanic or Latino: 6.12% Asian: 8.16% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 1.02% Two or more races: 11.22% Lakewood population 2020 White: 45.6% Black or African American: 12.5% Hispanic or Latino: 18.1% Asian: 8.9% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.9% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 3.8% Two or more races: 9.5% Some other race: 0.7% Puyallup Puyallup Police Department, 2024 (67 officers) White: 85.07% Black or African American: 2.99% Hispanic or Latino: 1.49% Asian: 8.96% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0% Two or more races: 0% Decline/unknown: 1.49% Puyallup population 2020 White: 70% Black or African American: 3.8% Hispanic or Latino: 9.8% Asian: 5.5% American Indian or Alaska Native: 1.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 1.3% Two or more races: 7.8% Some other race: 0.6% Sumner Sumner Police Department, 2024 (24 officers) White: 87.5% Black or African American: 4.17% Hispanic or Latino: 4.17% Asian: 0% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0% Two or more races: 4.17% Sumner population 2020 White: 71.4% Black or African American: 1.6% Hispanic or Latino: 13.8% Asian: 3% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.8% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 1.1% Two or more races: 7.7% Some other race: 0.5% Gig Harbor Gig Harbor Police Department, 2024 (23 officers) White: 69.57% Black or African American: 4.35% Hispanic or Latino: 13.04% Asian: 4.35% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0% Two or more races: 8.7% Gig Harbor population 2020 White: 79.1% Black or African American: 1.4% Hispanic or Latino: 7.4% Asian: 4.8% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.3% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0.3% Two or more races: 6.4% Some other race: 0.3% Buckley Buckley Police Department, 2024 (12 officers) White: 100% Black or African American: 0% Hispanic or Latino: 0% Asian: 0% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0% Two or more races: 0% Buckley population 2020 White: 84% Black or African American: 0.7% Hispanic or Latino: 5.7% Asian: 1.2% American Indian or Alaska Native: 1.3% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0.3% Two or more races: 6.2% Some other race: 0.5% Orting Orting Police Department, 2024 (11 officers) White: 100% Black or African American: 0% Hispanic or Latino: 0% Asian: 0% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0% Two or more races: 0% Orting population 2020 White: 76% Black or African American: 2.4% Hispanic or Latino: 8.7% Asian: 2.5% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.9% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 1% Two or more races: 8.1% Some other race: 0.6% Ruston Ruston Police Department, 2024 (11 officers) White: 72.73% Black or African American: 0% Hispanic or Latino: 0% Asian: 27.27% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0% Two or more races: 0% Ruston population 2020 White: 76.8% Black or African American: 1.4% Hispanic or Latino: 6.5% Asian: 6.5% American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.5% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0.2% Two or more races: 7.6% Some other race: 0.5%
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pierce County police chief who ‘built lasting trust within the community' set to retire
Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey will retire June 23 after a career of more than 30 years in law enforcement, the city of Gig Harbor announced in a news release Thursday. Overseeing a department of 24 commissioned officers and three administrative staff, Busey stepped into the role of chief in 2014. He started out as an entry-level police officer for the Gig Harbor Police Department in 1991 after working for the Coast Guard, according to the release. 'Chief Busey has been an exemplary leader, providing steadfast service and commitment to the safety of our residents,' Mayor Mary Barber said in the release. 'His leadership has strengthened our Police Department and built lasting trust within the community.' According to the release, Busey's contributed his expertise in investigations, marine-services operations and communications to the department. The city also thanked him for his 'leadership, operational planning, management, technical writing, and crisis communications.' Under Busey's leadership, the Gig Harbor Police Department became accredited by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs on March 18 after an 18-month process, according to a city department update. According to the WASPC website, accreditation is an optional distinction that shows an agency is following 'industry best practices and standards,' focusing on 18 different areas, including use of force, personnel management, records management, information technology, health and safety, fiscal management and more. The process culminates with an on-site inspection. 'Our department learned about ourselves and improved in certain areas,' Busey wrote in the city newsletter March 19. 'It was also good to know that we have largely been doing things the proper way even before the process started ... Most importantly, our residents and businesses can be assured that we are doing our job in an efficient, legal, and transparent manner.' The department will receive an accreditation certificate in May, according to the city newsletter. Busey also oversaw the launch of the department's Business Check program in 2021 to help curb retail theft in Gig Harbor, The News Tribune reported. Larceny-theft offenses were the city's top crime incident in 2023, at 26.8 incidents per 1,000 people, according to the most recent statewide crime report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. The program gave retail store employees a way to call police for a 'Business Check' if they noticed suspicious activity, without having to confirm whether someone was shoplifting and risk making a false accusation. More recently, Busey explored the option of contracting with Flock Safety to install 10 automated license-plate readers in Gig Harbor after he learned a City Council member was interested in what technologies the department could leverage. He also led the department in securing a grant from the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority to pay for the cameras' installation and one year of operation. The cameras don't issue speeding tickets but help law enforcement agencies more easily track stolen vehicles, locate missing people and solve other crimes. Busey made a formal presentation to the council Monday, but the council voted against a contract with Flock following several residents' public comments opposing it, The News Tribune reported. The city is planning a retirement reception for Busey near the end of June and will release the date and other details soon, the release said.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Will this Pierce County city get license plate cameras? Privacy is part of the debate
The city of Gig Harbor is considering installing ten stationary cameras to take pictures of vehicles' license plates for law enforcement purposes, sparking a discussion of whether data privacy and surveillance concerns outweigh the potential boost to crime investigations. The Gig Harbor City Council will take public comment at their 5:30 p.m. meeting Monday, March 24, before voting on whether to approve a contract to install the cameras provided by a private company called Flock Safety, which operates their technology in cities nationwide. If the item passes, the city will join other Pierce County jurisdictions including Bonney Lake, Eatonville, Lakewood, Puyallup and Sumner in using automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, to identify vehicles passing through their area and help solve crimes. The Pierce County Sheriff's Office was also considering the technology in 2023, The News Tribune reported. The Tacoma Police Department deployed ALPR technology as of Feb. 10, but it's not clear from their website if they use Flock or another service. The use of ALPR (also called LPR) technology is growing statewide, according to Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey. There are at least 75 law enforcement agencies in Washington state that use Flock's cameras, plus other commercial and private customers like big box stores and neighborhood associations, he told The News Tribune via phone Thursday. In Gig Harbor, the city would install the cameras on city infrastructure at points of entry and exit to the city. Though he said police haven't decided the exact locations yet, he said they'd likely go up on freeway on-ramps and off-ramps and at the intersection of Peacock Hill Avenue and Borgen Boulevard. Busey said he started exploring automated license plate readers for Gig Harbor about a year ago, sensing that the city council might be open to the idea after a council member asked him about the police department's use of technology to fight crime. The cameras would generally face one direction and take photos of vehicles' back or front end, depending on which way they faced, according to Busey. The Flock website says each device captures vehicles' color, make and model, license plates and license plate type and any bumper stickers, along with a timestamp and location. The images won't capture drivers or occupants, according to Busey. The cameras can't detect speed, according to the Flock website. A list of FAQs from the city says the cameras won't enforce traffic laws and can't be used to issue tickets. Flock encrypts and stores the data temporarily on a secure cloud server through Amazon Web Services for a default retention period of 30 days, before it's auto-deleted. The company pledges on its website not to sell or share the data with third parties, and states that customers 'own 100% of the data and footage collected with (their) cameras.' Law enforcement officers would be able to query the database for a specific vehicle matching a description — such as a gray Jeep — after a crime occurs to figure out where it might be, and get a real-time alert when a suspect vehicle passes an ALPR location. 'This is kind of what we call a force multiplier,' Busey said. 'So it's kind of an extension of our eyes.' To make a query, officers have to provide a reason for their search and a case number, according to a list of FAQs from the city. The queries would be logged and feed a public-facing webpage similar to one set up for the city of Sumner, which notes the number of searches in the last 30 days and different agencies that have access to the data. ALPRs in the city could have helped the police department more quickly catch a serial bank robber, who first hit a Key Bank in Gig Harbor and then several others in the Puget Sound area, according to Busey. The police department worked with other local agencies that had access to ALPR data to locate him. The technology could have also helped police locate repeat purse snatchers and a missing person, according to the city's FAQ page. He emphasized that the police department already uses investigative techniques to locate suspects, like reviewing people's cell phone and bank records when they have a search warrant to do so. 'Flock is just a less invasive and probably more immediately available technology,' he said. '... We're not tracking anybody. We're not ... trying to develop a pattern of where somebody might go during the day.' At the March 13 council study session, some council members questioned Flock's ability to protect citizens' data from federal agencies and other third parties, outside of law enforcement. 'I trust our Gig Harbor Police Department to do the right thing,' council member Roger Henderson said when reached via phone Friday afternoon. 'That's not my concern. It's just potential misuse from other agencies for whatever reason.' He said he wants to see city protocols in place first to address the risks of letting the data fall into the wrong hands, such as perpetrators of domestic violence or unelected officials at higher levels of government. Council member Em Stone told The News Tribune via phone Thursday that she's feeling 'a little bit torn' ahead of the vote Monday. She's also thinking about the cameras in light of the confidentiality and privacy necessary to keep domestic violence survivors safe, coming from a previous job as public policy director at the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 'While the risk is low, it just takes one,' Stone said. 'And not to say I want to make all my decisions assuming bad actors, but I do think it's worth it for me to have conversations and ask the questions around what we can do legally to better protect vulnerable populations.' Council member Jeni Woock told The News Tribune she's worried the 'rule of law' won't be upheld to protect peoples' data from the federal government, if it was requested. 'If you haven't committed a crime, I'm not in favor of people being tracked, and I'm not in favor of our community playing perhaps an innocent part in that,' Woock said. Asked about the city's ability to protect the data, Busey told The News Tribune that the city would only release the data to another police agency 'if they can show a valid violation of Washington state law.' If a federal agency wanted to access the data, the city 'would only comply with a court order signed by a federal judge.' Up until now, Flock has received no such inquiries from federal agencies, he told The News Tribune. According to a list of Terms and Conditions on the Flock website, the company says it 'may access, use, preseve and/or disclose the footage to law enforcement authorities, government officials, and/or third parties, if legally required to do so or if Flock has a good faith belief that such access, use, preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a legal process, enforce this agreement, or detect, prevent or otherwise address security, privacy, fraud or technical issues, or emergency situations.' In May 2024, the police department applied for a grant from the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority and received $33,000 in July 2024 to install the technology and pay for the first year of operation. WATPA awarded about $2.3 million total to agencies across the state for automated license plate reader technology that year, according to Executive Director Bryan Jeter. The Gig Harbor Police Department has until June 30, 2025 to use the money, according to Busey. The city would have to pay to operate the cameras after that, at $30,000 each year for 10 cameras or $3,000 per camera, a Flock representative said at the city council study session March 13. The city would evaluate the use of the technology after the first year before deciding whether or not to keep funding it, according to Busey. WIRED reported that automated license plate readers first appeared at police departments in the 2000s. The cameras have since been adopted by many agencies across the United States, including nearly 90% of sheriffs' offices with at least 500 sworn deputies, according to a 2020 survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Among sheriffs' offices with 250-499 sworn deputies, a category that includes the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, about 78% used automated license plate readers regularly.
