Don’t call the Lacey Police

Has the neighbor’s dog been barking all night?  Has a large party in the neighborhood gotten out of control and the music is too loud?  Have you seen someone shop lifting and called to report it?  Have you had a fender bender in the parking lot?

Well, don’t call the Lacey Police Department.  They won’t respond.

According to a missive put out by Lacey Police Chief Robert Almada, the department officers will respond only to a violent crime, serious property crimes, domestic violence and no-contact orders.  This is the result of recently passed legislation by the State of Washington.

In the missive the chief said, “We will continue to focus on combating crime.  We have transitioned most of our community caretaking and non-crime-related responsibilities to social service providers, such as our newly formed Mobile Outreach Team.”

Prior to the implementation of the new legislation, the police department put out some statistics of calls for service from the community.

For the first nine months of this year, in the Fred Meyer complex area alone, police responded to a total of 767 calls, some from citizens and some initiated by police officers.  Of those 767 calls, only 98 of them resulted in a written report.  These calls included theft, exposure, shop-lifting, assault, burglary, animal complaints (dogs in hot car), medical emergencies, liquor violations and dozens of other calls.

In the future, most of those calls will be sent to the Mobile Outreach Team – – or be ignored completely.

Editors note:  Complaints about the new focus should be sent to your local state legislators.