Federal Way crime data shows drug arrests skyrocketed more than 400% this year

The city of Federal Way released its yearly crime data report, revealing staggering numbers when it came to crime regarding drug use.

According to data from the Federal Way Mayor’s Office, drug arrests are up more than 402% this year, with the number of drug/narcotic offenses going from 44 in 2023 to 221 in 2024. Communications Manager with the Federal Way Mayor’s Office, Ben Miller, attributed the large number to a changed law.

“The previous law that required two prior warnings before allowing the arrest of drug users created a pseudo-legalization of drugs in our city and in the region,” Miller stated in an email to MyNorthwest Wednesday. “A change in the law means our hands are now untied and has directly led to more arrests on drug charges.”

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He added that being able to charge criminals in public with a gross misdemeanor allowed Federal Way to handle the crimes at the city and district court level as opposed to charging the arrests as felonies.

“The city courts are the best way to get people the treatment they need,” Miller said. “It gives the judge and prosecutors great tools to help get drug users into a substance abuse program, which helps them get back on the straight and narrow.”

He believes intervening in street-level drug use has also led to the city’s 42% decrease in robbery in 2024. Miller said more arrests were possible because the police pursuit law now allows officers to chase suspects.

“We believe the majority of this is directly related to a change in the law by the Washington State Legislature that allows our police officers to pursue suspects again,” he explained. “Before the law change earlier this year, criminals would steal cars and use those cars to commit crimes and be able to flee unabated.”

While often discussed crimes such as murder (down 50%) and motor vehicle theft (down 52%) have seen numbers sliced in half in 2024, crimes such as intimidation (up 123%) and kidnapping (up 142%) have increased.

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The most committed crimes were larceny, motor vehicle theft and damage/vandalism. Larceny saw an 8% increase, going from 2,193 offenses in 2023 to 2,362 offenses in 2024. Motor vehicle theft went from 2,136 offenses in 2023 to 1,028 offenses in 2024. Damage/vandalism was down 19% with 1,069 offenses in 2023 and 862 in 2024.

Total crime in Federal Way was down 11% in 2024.

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.