Police departments face major problem as they work to hire more officers

SEATTLE — Police departments from Bellingham to Seattle to Renton are trying to hire more officers, but there is a major problem on the horizon. The state police academy needs to double the number of training classes.

If the academy doesn’t receive $2.4 million in state funding, Executive Director Sue Rahr believes wait times for recruits could skyrocket from four months to eight months or even a year, KIRO 7 reports.

All police recruits in the state are required to go through five months of classes at the academy, formally known as the Criminal Justice Training Center.

Deputy Chris Veentjer, with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, said he experiences the need for more deputies on a daily basis. He said he’s sometimes forced to respond to potentially dangerous calls, like domestic violence calls, on his own.

“I know my back up’s coming, but it may be a longer time,” he said.

Snohomish County voters will vote on a sales tax increase in August that would, in part, fund 30 to 48 new deputies.

Police departments can cut their recruits’ wait time by hiring police officers from other departments in the state or across the country. Those officers are only required to do a two-week class at the academy. But Rahr said the candidate pool for this is small and demand is high. She also pointed out the desirability of hiring local officers over out-of-state officers.

Taxpayers like Brooke Bates see the funding as a no-brainer.

“We all like to feel safe,” she said. “Get the police their classes. Get them on the streets.”

The Governor’s Office told KIRO 7 that Gov. Inslee that “there is no additional money at the governor’s discretion to fund more classes at this time,” but that the governor’s staff is “working closely with stakeholders and the Commission to explore what else can be done.”

The Legislature would need to approve additional funding in the next session, which starts in January 2017.