21st Century Policing Solutions Recommendations for the Tacoma Police Department Now Available

The City of Tacoma engaged 21st Century Policing (21CP) Solutions to:

• Conduct an assessment of the Tacoma Police Department’s current practices, procedures, and operations.
• Develop pragmatic, specific recommendations and reforms that the Tacoma Police Department and the City of Tacoma can implement to strengthen the Tacoma Police Department’s relationship with Tacoma’s community; ensure that the Tacoma Police Department’s activities and operations are safe, just, effective, lawful, and consistent with national, best, emerging, and transformational practices.

As this report notes, Tacoma’s elected officials, community organizations, and members of the Tacoma Police Department (TPD) described to 21CP Solutions a commitment to comprehensively re-imagining public safety in Tacoma going forward. 

21CP’s final recommendations were reviewed by TPD Command staff. The final report responses were discussed, next steps identified, and current state captured. These were then assigned to the corresponding Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) objective in the Safety priority area, bringing the 21CP findings into alignment with the broader citywide transformation initiative.

Read their full Recommendations for the Tacoma Police Department

Read the Prioritization and Implementation Matrix of 21CP’s Recommendations

Community's Police Advisory Committee Preliminary Response to 21CP Recommendations

TPD's Status Updates on Progress on 21CP Recommendations 

Resolution 40622 Directs the City Manager to:

• Keep anti‐racism as a top priority in the process of budget development and prioritize anti‐racism in the planning of an economic recovery strategy following COVID‐19; and
• Prioritize anti‐racism in the evaluation of new policies and programs as well as the sustained and comprehensive transformation of existing services, with initial priority being given to policing; and
• Assess the current state of systems in place at the Tacoma Police Department in consultation with police reform experts, with specific attention to how current policies, staffing levels, training, and accountability systems align to create just outcomes and use this assessment as a foundation for the work of comprehensive transformation; and
• Actively seek and implement interim administrative changes and process improvements that can legally be taken immediately to improve transparency and accountability in policing; and
• Work with the City Council to build a legislative platform at the local, state, and federal level that transforms institutions impacted by systemic racism for the greater equity and well-being of all residents of Tacoma, Washington state, and the United States.

Here are the reports from the City Manager, Elizabeth Pauli, on System Transformation Updates presented to the City Council. Starting in January 2022, the presentations are given monthly on the second Tuesday of the month.

Community Events 

We know residents of our city have long been committed to anti-racism work and so we want to hear from you. We want to work alongside you. Transformation can only happen through dialogue, engagement, and learning—together.

Upcoming Events

• CPAC Survey--The Community's Police Advisory Committee is currently collecting community feedback via surveys in English, Spanish (coming soon), and Vietnamese and hosted a community forum to better understand if Tacomans prefer it to continue in an advisory role or shift to an oversight model. If interested, community members can go to www.cityoftacoma.org/cpac to watch the informational video and take the survey.
• Fair Housing presentations and booths (Spanish and English)--Human Rights staff will present to several community groups, and staff booths at community events throughout September and October to raise awareness of Fair Housing. The information is available in Spanish and English.
• Free Women in Public Safety event--An informational session/panel will be held on Friday, September 23 followed by a hands-on event on Saturday, September 24, 2022. Participants will learn about the Tacoma Fire Department & Tacoma Police Department's recruit programs directly from women in the field.
  • Grit City Trees applications due September 30--The goal of the Grit City Trees program is to equitably grow happy and healthy neighborhoods through community tree planting. With tree canopy coverage as low as 2.9% in some historically under-served neighborhoods, it is vital for the City to provide resources to support tree growth in these communities. With this in mind, the limited resources and support we have available through the Grit City Trees program will be for Priority Planting Areas (neighborhoods identified as “Moderate”, “Low” to “Very Low” Opportunity on Tacoma’s Equity Index). Though we prioritize applications, all Tacoma property owners with eligible right of way planting opportunities are still encouraged to apply.
• CPR Sunday--On October 9, 2022, at Foss High School, the Fire Department are actively working to improve access to CPR classes across the City. Go to www.cityoftacoma.org/cpr to register for CPR Sunday on October 9, and view other CPR classes offered by the Fire Department throughout the year.
• Various City departments are attending community events to share city information and resources with the community members.

Community Invited to Meet the Tacoma Police Chief Finalists

Join us at this virtual event and meet our Tacoma Police Chief finalists. Learn more about the candidates on the Police Chief Recruitment page.

December 7, 2020

Event begins at 6 PM
Click this link to join. 

Event ID: 876 3649 3418
Passcode: 573265
You can also join by calling (253) 215-8782. 

The event will also air live on TV Tacoma, which can be streamed at tvtacoma.com or watched on your television on Click! (via Rainier Connect) in High Definition on Channel 512 or in Standard Definition on Channel 12 within the Tacoma City limits and in Pierce County. In the City of University Place our Standard Definition Channel is 21 or on Comcast, in High Definition on Channel 321 in Tacoma and Pierce County.  Our Standard Definition Channel is 12 within the Tacoma City limits and Channel 21 in Pierce County. TV Tacoma is not available on the Comcast system in University Place.

Community Conversation on the Chief of Police Recruitment on October 29, 2020

We want to hear your thoughts on the recruitment for our next Police Chief. Please join us for a presentation on the recruitment, learn how you can participate, and to give us feedback on what is important to you. We also want to gather community input that will inform the development of interview questions for candidates.   

Event Details: 
October 29, 2020
6 – 7:15 PM
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83545753757?pwd=VFcxRmR1VUR5d1BJT3A5ZkFEWFBhZz09 
Event ID: 835 4575 3757
Passcode: 758963
Call in: (253) 215-8782

For more information on this process, visit our Police Chief Recruitment web page.

Community Conversation Discussing Body-Worn Cameras for Tacoma Police 

A community conversation was held on August 13, 2020 and was titled "Body-Worn Cameras for Tacoma Police: A Community Conversation" and anyone from the community was invited to attend.

Starting in January 2021, the City of Tacoma will begin to require Body-Worn Cameras to be worn by the Tacoma Police Department (all uniform and police officers). Body-Worn Cameras are used by law enforcement to record interactions (both audio and visual) with the community and to gather video evidence at crime scenes.

At this Community Conversation, hosted by Tacoma's Community's Police Advisory Committee (CPAC), the City of Tacoma gave a presentation on Body-Worn Cameras and then the attendees broke out into groups to provide feedback on the program.