TACOMA, Wash. — “We were failed by our Tacoma Police Department.”
Ed Tuck runs TNT Tire Point S. on South Tacoma Way, a business that’s been in his family for generations.
But that family business was burglarized on February 12. Two vehicles, an order of tires, 14 sets of car keys, tools, and a handgun were stolen.
Tuck said his staff called police around 7:30 a.m., but officers didn't show up until over eight hours later.
Tacoma Police confirmed that they received a 911 call at 7:36 am of the overnight burglary, but officers weren’t dispatched until 3:22 p.m., and arrived at 3:41 p.m.
Tuck said the wait added to the losses he already suffered.
“They instructed us not to disturb the crime scene, so we’re paying people to be here to work and can’t work,” Tuck recalled. “Basically we lost about $15,000 in sales just from not being open.”
Business owners have called on the Tacoma Police Department to improve response times for months.
Public Information Officer with the Tacoma Police Department Wendy Haddow said she understands the frustration of having to wait, but wants to make it clear that there’s a reason an officer may come later.
“Life safety issues will always be dispatched first, and by life safety issues, I’m talking about an assault in progress, motor vehicle accidents with injuries, a welfare check with someone who’s suicidal, not in the order that they come into 911,” Haddow said. “So even though you might have called 911 first, that will get bumped behind those calls involving the safety of other community members.”
Haddow also says just because an officer may be hours late, doesn’t mean the call is a low priority.
“Although they might not arrive as quickly as you’d like, they are still going to take a thorough report, and detectives will be working on solving those crimes,” she says.
Tuck said while he’s sympathetic to the demands on the department, that doesn’t excuse the length of time the crime against his business went unaddressed.
“911 should’ve realized that when we called for a third time that this is a big deal, it’s impacting our business and our livelihood, and our community and they need to see the urgency in this,” Tuck said. “More than once, patrol cars drove by, passed our building, and didn’t stop to check in to see what was going on.”
Now the Tacoma business community is calling for city leadership to make some changes because businesses can’t be left to fend for themselves.
“A business council is coming up with a task force so we can work with our city government and city police department and our city mayor to improve these conditions, because we’re the ones generating taxes and revenue for the city to operate, and yet we’re not being served,” he said.