‘It was cartoonish’: Federal Way mayor shares how city slashed car theft 80% in three years

Car thefts in Federal Way have plummeted 80% since 2023, a decline Mayor Jim Ferrell ties directly to the legislature’s decision to reinstate police pursuits for property crimes, including auto theft.

The city has now posted three consecutive years of 50%-plus reductions in car theft, a streak Ferrell called “historic.”

“The bottom is dropping out of what we call quality of life crimes, which are car theft, burglary, robbery, those kinds of crimes,” Ferrell said. “That’s a real indicator that we’re holding offenders accountable, and those small number of people that are committing crimes are no longer in the community to do that.”

Crime falling across every major category

The car-theft drop is not an outlier.

Over the past three years in Federal Way: robberies are down 71%, residential and commercial burglaries combined have fallen 60%, and homicides have dropped from seven last year to four so far this year, a decline of 43%.

Ferrell said two policy changes at the state level drove the turnaround — the reinstatement of police vehicle pursuits and what he described as “common sense drug laws.”

Washington once led the nation in per-capita car theft

Before pursuits were restored, Washington ranked first in the nation in per-capita car theft, Ferrell said.

“We just had a real lawless environment,” he told KIRO Newsradio. “We couldn’t do anything about it.”

He pointed to one incident that illustrated the frustration. Thieves stole roughly a quarter of a million dollars worth of tools from a city maintenance facility, and officers had to watch them drive away.

“These guys, we caught them red-handed. They just drove away, and it was really, it was cartoonish,” Ferrell said. “We couldn’t understand why in the world we were not allowed to pursue stolen cars.”

The maintenance facility alone was losing more than $100,000 a year to theft at the time, he said.

Ferrell and the police chief testified before the legislature

Ferrell and the city’s police chief testified before the legislature in support of reinstating pursuits.

“People were stealing cars and then ramming them into businesses or committing other crimes,” he said. “By addressing that one factor and also drugs as well, it has a cascade effect.”

Federal Way adding officers while other agencies struggle to recruit

Even as other law enforcement agencies in the region, including the Seattle Police Department, have struggled to recruit officers, Federal Way said it has managed to expand its ranks.

The city has grown from 126 budgeted officers to 154 since Ferrell took office in 2014, an increase of more than 22%.

“We’ve been consistently investing in more officers just to make sure that we are going to a more proactive stance and approach.”

Ferrell acknowledged that recruiting remains a challenge, particularly after a wave of officers left law enforcement or the state entirely five or six years ago when pursuit restrictions and other reforms were enacted.

To stay competitive, the city has offered signing bonuses and worked to match what other agencies in the region are offering. But Ferrell said the focus has not been solely on filling positions.

“It’s not just bodies,” he said. “You need a variety of not only newer officers, but what they call lateral officers as well, people with a little bit of time on the job somewhere else that have good experience and that know how to de-escalate situations.”

Community backs its police department

Ferrell said the relationship between Federal Way’s police department and its residents remains strong.

“I’ve gone to thousands of doors in the city of Federal Way,” he said. “They love and support their police department. I mean, it’s really nearly universally.”

First-half 2026 numbers show trend is accelerating

In the first half of 2026, Federal Way’s overall crime rate is down 21% compared to the first half of 2025:

• Robbery — down 21%.
• Residential burglary — down 51%.
• Commercial burglary — down 47%.
• Motor vehicle theft — down 54%.

That, Ferrell said, puts his city on pace for a third straight double-digit crime rate reduction.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.

Follow @FrankLenziKIRO