The Tacoma Police Department is dramatically understaffed as crime continues to surge across the city. Police officers are sounding the alarms about what this means for Tacoma.
The TPD employs only 322 officers after 32 officers left this year so far. That’s well above last year’s 24 separations. This equals just about one officer per 687 residents. What’s worse, these departing officers aren’t being replaced with recruits. The department has a staggering 42 vacancies.
The issue is almost as bad as Seattle’s police staffing crisis. But Tacoma doesn’t get as much attention. A group of Tacomans and a police union are trying to change that.
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