TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore presented the first progress report from his Crime Reduction Plan at Tacoma’s City Council study session on Tuesday.
After three months, Moore said crime is down.
Moore’s plan initially focused on making police highly visible, and allocating resources to areas identified as hot spots for criminal activity.
Between July 6 and Oct. 5, 2022, 16 addresses were identified as crime hot spots.
According to data from the past three months, violent crime, such as robberies and aggravated assaults, in those areas decreased 37% compared to the previous three months, and 12% compared to the same time period last year.
University of Texas at San Antonio Criminology Professor Michael Smith, who helped Moore put his plan together and monitor its progress, said the city overall has benefited from the approach.
“Crime fell in every sector of the city at the treated addresses,” Smith reported. “It fell in all the catchment areas, and it fell in all other areas of the sectors across the board.”
City council members praised the progress, but some also pointed out concerns about the underlying conditions found in these areas.
Councilmember Keith Blocker called for additional data to be gathered on these hot spots that looks at racial demographics, education, and income. Councilmembers Olgy Diaz and Kiara Daniels both expressed concerns about if this plan could disproportionately impact communities of color.
“How do we track over-policing, and how do we balance that going forward?” Daniels asked. “That was a question I had, but we don’t have a data point for that.”
Moore said while Tacoma police does track demographics, resources are deployed based solely on criminal behavior and data, and his crime plan is designed to specifically prevent over-policing communities.
“That visible impact is what you’re seeing today, and although we have made arrests, it wasn’t because of visibility, meaning that officers weren’t going there looking to arrest people,” he explained. “They’re going there to be highly visible with their lights on, and they’re literally sitting there for a minimum of 15 minutes, so that’s the plan and that’s why it’s been so successful, so that we wouldn’t have over-policing.”
Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards celebrated the lower crime rate, while wondering how a feeling of overall safety can be instilled in the city.
“Everyone just wants to feel safe in their neighborhood,” she said. “While that looks different for every single neighborhood, for some it is the shots fired in the house down the street four or five times a week, for some it is the murder that took place on the corner, but there is this sense of unsafe in our community.”
Moore said this data will help change that perception and bring that safe feeling to Tacoma.
“Part of the reason I was excited about this presentation is that one of the ways to address perception is by truth.” Moore said. “This is the truth. This is not the Wild, Wild West. Tacoma is a safe city. Do we have crime in areas? Absolutely. As Mike said, it’s unrealistic to say we’re gonna get rid of all crime. Unrealistic, but my goal from the very beginning was to be the safest city in the country, and I stick with that. I know it’s a big goal, but I think it’s doable.”