‘A very important position’: Sheriff’s and police association emphasizes need for officers as WA last in police staffing
Feb 27, 2026, 5:00 AM | Updated: 2:53 pm
Washington has ranked last in the nation for police officers per capita for 15 years, and the gap is widening.
Steve Strachan, the executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, explained why numbers are trending downward, stressing the need for law enforcement.
“We’re seeing too many people leaving the profession, too many retirements from the profession, and as hard as we’re working to try to bring people in right now, what’s really important for people to understand is this is a very, very important position,” he told “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio.
A lack of support for law enforcement
Another reason for the decline is that some communities are not showing a tremendous amount of support for law enforcement.
“They also expect good policing, transparent policing, and fair policing. As we work through that, we’ve had some ups and downs,” Strachan said.
Washington doesn’t just need more police officers, he added, it needs the right ones.
“We need to be very selective of people coming in and making sure that they’re there for the right reasons,” Strachan said. “Very difficult balance to strike.”
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Grant program makes no progress
Although there was a $100 million grant program to hire more officers, it hasn’t made a significant difference. The Washington State Standard reported no cops have been hired, and local officials are frustrated with a slow and difficult rollout.
“Unfortunately, we’re again treading water and really not making progress,” Strachan said.
He’s hopeful the state can turn things around and sees room for progress.
“I’m hoping that a year from now, if we talk about this again, that we’re going to see some real progress, but we need to continue to pay attention to it,” he said.
Watch the full discussion in the video above.
Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.
