Rantz Exclusive: After ‘chaos’ at Tacoma Police, absent chief resigns

UPDATE (Jan. 28, 2025, 4 p.m.): Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore formally submitted his resignation Tuesday, according to the city of Tacoma.

Original story:

Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore has been absent from duty for nearly two months, but the city said it can’t provide an explanation. Union leadership expects an imminent separation announcement.

The absence coincided with a brutal employee engagement survey blasting the chief’s leadership in addition to accusations of “cooking the books” to reclassify drive-by shootings as “vandalism.” It’s gotten to the point where the union head is calling for the chief’s termination. Tacoma Police Union IUPA Local 6 president Sgt. Henry Betts exclusively told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH that the department has been experiencing “chaos” and “dysfunction.”

“We are in absolute chaos with who is leading this place and who is in charge, to the point that we’re calling meetings with executives at the police department to say we don’t know anything,” Sgt. Betts explained on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Betts suspects an announcement on a separation is imminent, though he hasn’t been told anything specific from the city.

According to multiple sources to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, Chief Moore’s last day with be on or around February 3. It will be framed as a resignation.

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Where is Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore?

Sgt. Betts said Chief Moore has been absent for about six consecutive weeks and that the city isn’t telling them why.

“I can tell you, in my 22 years, I have never seen that before,” he said. “Do things happen in people’s lives where they need to be away from work? Yeah, absolutely that happens. But usually, what we would see is there’s kind of a handoff.”

The City of Tacoma could not comment to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH at this time. Personnel matters, particularly sensitive ones, are typically not disclosed by the city. The chief’s absence could be due to anything from dealing with personal or family matters to the city negotiating the terms of an exit. Regardless of the reason, Tacoma Police Department (TPD) officers and the union president agree: The department is a mess.

“It’s chaos because no one really knows (why Avery is gone), and the only thing they’re willing to say is, ‘We don’t have any information,'” Sgt. Betts explained. “The city is playing some games, and we don’t know where it’s going to land. But for the men and women who work here, and consequently, for the community that needs services, it’s very distracting. It’s dysfunctional.”

Deputy Chief Paul Junger is currently handling Chief Moore’s duties.

Tacoma Police union president calls for the chief to be separated

Sgt. Betts has stated that mismanagement within the department has been an ongoing issue. After privately raising his concerns with Chief Moore and city leadership, he is now publicly calling for the chief’s separation.

When asked if Chief Moore should return to the department as chief, Betts said, “Oh, no. No sir.”

“I’ve tried my best to deal with this and every other way I can … all the different things we’ve tried to move this place forward, we are absolutely dysfunctional. That is what it comes down to, and whether the rank and file, the police officers, that might not change your call for service, but the citizens deserve better. The people who live here need to know that our police are all held to a high standard, from the very low guy to the absolute highest guy,” Sgt. Betts explained to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Recent engagement survey shows many angry cops

Anger toward Chief Moore surfaced in a recent Tacoma Police engagement survey conducted as part of a broader citywide effort.

When asked about the Executive Leadership Team’s consistency between actions and words, their ability to provide clear departmental direction, and whether employees felt safe expressing their views without fear of retribution, dissatisfaction rates ranged from 72% to 78%. Additionally, 69% of staff respondents expressed doubt that the survey results would be used constructively.

“The results, particularly for the TPD, are just atrocious,” Sgt. Betts admitted.

According to the survey results, obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH,” nearly all staff criticisms showing the most significant negative growth year-over-year were tied to executive or senior leadership.

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‘Cooked the books’

Sgt. Betts and other Local 6 leadership said they’ve worked for months to address ongoing issues, but after what they called “disingenuous” comments came from Chief Avery to the Tacoma City Council, they took their criticisms public.

To bolster claims that crime rates are down due to the city’s crime plan, the Tacoma Police Union, IUPA Local 6, alleged that Chief Moore “cooked the books.” This reportedly includes reclassifying some drive-by shootings as “vandalism” if no one was inside the targeted home or car at the time of the crime.

“Right as the crime plan was unveiled, Chief Moore and his team changed how TPD collects and publicizes crime data, specifically reclassifying many drive-by-shooting incidents as mere ‘vandalisms,'” Local 6 leaders said in a letter to the Tacoma City Council obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

The union wrote the letter after Chief Moore presented the results of his Violent Crime Reduction Plan to the Tacoma City Council, which claimed a 17.5% reduction in violent crimes from July 2022 to June 2023. At the time, Moore told city leaders to be “rest assured” because “we have reduced crime.”

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Tacoma Police is being managed as poorly as Seattle PD

Rumors have been circulating amongst officers that Chief Moore is on leave as the city negotiates his exit. Many are hopeful for a new chief who will listen to and address their concerns, but there’s uncertainty about whether the City of Tacoma will make the right choice. Some officers fear the selection process will be insular, leaving their concerns unaddressed.

Sgt. Betts said it sometimes feels like the city is setting the officers up to fail. He said the department is doing as poorly as the Seattle Police Department (SPD), which has also been plagued with historically low staffing.

“A lot say, ‘It’s very similar to what Seattle’s gone through.’ But I almost think that’s by design: That the goal here is for the police department to be set up for that much failure,” Sgt. Betts said. “That there are people in leadership that would actually like to see us not have more cops, to not be functioning well, to have people leave.”

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Editors’ note: This item originally was published at 8:55 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. It has been updated and republished multiple times since then.

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