Letter: Lakewood: Where the police are great, and the statistics first-rate

I wanted to share good news about public safety in Lakewood. I’ll begin with a personal experience. If anyone would like to skip that part and get to the news, just scroll below to the subhead “The Numbers.”

I served on the council in 2004 when the police department began. It was a busy time, with a million details and a lot of negotiation with the previous public safety team from the sheriff’s department. So I’ve always followed the department’s story with interest.

Every Day

Here comes the personal experience. Not long ago, I was waiting with a family member in a car in a parking lot. We were waiting for a Lakewood police officer to come by and tell us something.

You guessed it—when you’re in a parking lot waiting for a cop to come by, it’s probably not a happy situation. In fact, it was a terrible situation. I ran it as one of the most stressful experiences of my life. I remember thanking the officer profusely and going on for quite a while, even for me. My family member was apologizing for the trouble.

The officer told us both, in a very kind tone, “Hey, we do this every day.”

So there I was with my intestines tying themselves into knots—and I was reminded in a few words that the officers just do this all the time.

This is a challenge of police work. When we need them, we NEED them. We ask them to do incredible things, expecting them to act like saints while coming into close contact with people who can act like devils. Police enact a version of Good Omens that isn’t a comedy.

We’ve certainly heard plenty of stories about frontline law enforcement officers who don’t do what they should. That’s no excuse for bad behavior. Issues of race and class are real, and all of us have thoughts that rush through our heads, sometimes based on hard experience, when we think of “the police.” If you’ve had a bad or horrible experience, I don’t want to minimize it. It’s a sad part of the story that shouldn’t but will happen. For example, I’m a fan of what religion can do, even as one of my former teachers is locked up in prison.

The Numbers

If you have access to Facebook, here’s a video that nicely summarizes the latest about Lakewood police. I strongly recommend watching that, even if you don’t finish this column. There are many good voices to hear from, including from a businessperson. 

The contrasts are stark. I have had the pleasure of working in both downtown Tacoma and Seattle, and thus familiar with places where the police have had to give up.

Those places can be pretty scary, as I pondered often in the heart of downtown Tacoma. It’s been three years since I worked there, and maybe things are better now. But one thing I’ll say about Lakewood is that we haven’t had a coffee shop close due to security issues.

It’s thus heartening to learn in the video that there are proactive efforts to deal with retail theft. That was the whole point of forming a department in 2004 rather than just “renting” protection from the sheriff’s department—to be proactive.

The latest crime and call report for August through September is illuminating. Comparing those same months last year to this year:

• Calls for service are down 12 percent
• Arrests are up 10 percent
• Crimes against people are down 3 percent
• Larceny arrests are up thanks to the proactive approach, but overall crimes against property are down 18 percent
• Motor vehicle thefts are down 68 percent

Police statistics often become a kind of Rorschach test—people find whatever they want to see in the statistcs. But these numbers tell a good story.

The Rest of that Story

The original Lakewood police motto was “Of, for, and about community.” After an incident we need not mention here, it changed to “Making a difference.” They do make a difference, and it’s a great motto.

I was very heartened to read the following in the police budget request for 2025-26 (starting on page 343):

“Focus on Community Engagement to increase Community-Based Policing: Promote community policing initiatives that build trust and cooperation between residents and law enforcement, and enhance visibility, including neighborhood patrols, regular community events and meetings, and surveys to gather input on safety concerns and suggestions.”

One of the themes of my weekly letters to The Suburban Times is how Lakewood has changed since cityhood. Here, we see the cycle coming full circle. Those words could have been borrowed entirely from the original charter.

These are the same words that the original police chief, the late great Larry Saunders, would have said to the council or a neighborhood group as early as 2002, when the department began to organize. Inside my head,  I can hear those words in the voices of both current Police Chief Patrick Smith as well as Larry Saunders. For those of us who were here from the start, that’s an inspiring memory.

So, as we gear up as a community to remember what Lakewood is about, it’s comforting to know the police department is already there. The police department is offering a renewed focus on community-building, just as it did in 2004. It will be inspiring to track their progress.