Chief Pete Caw and Cmdrs. Mike Haynes and Scott King presented the Mountlake Terrace Police Department’s 2024 report during the April 24 City Council meeting.

Caw said the department continued to recruit a new generation of police officers and future leaders, achieved full staffing levels and is now concentrating on training, coaching and mentoring.

The department has maintained accreditation with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) since 2011.

“Less than 30% of Washington law enforcement agencies are successful in attaining this accreditation,” Caw said.

Further, the department is focusing on “fostering a culture of partnership with the community as we recognize community support and trust is paramount to our mission of serve, support, defend.”

2024 by the numbers

Haynes delivered the operations report, the hard numbers that show the rise and fall of trends and emerging patterns of behavior – both good and bad.

The department received 21,211 calls for service in 2024, 376 fewer calls than last year, and had 2,479 written reports compared to 3,013 in 2023. Further, non-criminal traffic violations dropped from 1,057 in 2023 to 801 in 2024.

Burglaries are also down, with 117 in 2023 and 68 in 2024. Vehicle prowls went from 138 to 85, and vehicle thefts went from 205 to 139 in the same timeframe.

Haynes said that knowing police can pursue again – due to changes in state law – has served as a crime deterrent and helped lower the number of crimes a suspect may attempt to flee in a vehicle. Mountlake Terrace police only needed to pursue one suspect, an impaired driver who was a public danger and collided with an officer.

With reports and calls for service going down by 15%, Haynes said the department was able to perform more patrols. Traffic stops increased to 5,049 from 4,676 the previous year, and DUI arrests increased from 105 in 2023 to 131 in 2024.

Citations for offenses such as driving with a suspended license increased from 153 in 2023 to 245 in 2024. Non-traffic-related arrests rose by 115 cases to 775 from the previous year.

Violent crimes such as felony assault, homicide, kidnapping, rape and robbery doubled from 16 reports in 2023 to 32 in 2024. Domestic violence crimes increased from 179 to 218 in 2024. Felony domestic violence increased from 24 in 2023 to 38, and misdemeanor cases rose from 155 to 180.

Domestic Violence Coordinator Danielle Singson took 379 domestic violence calls for service, resulting in 218 criminal domestic violence cases.

Councilmember Erin Murray asked about what measures can be taken to help those experiencing domestic violence.

Haynes said that the department is being proactive by checking in on victims and working with prosecutors to ensure abusers are held accountable in the courts.

Officers’ use of force has stayed consistent with last year, with an increase of two applications, totaling 59 instances. All incidents were non-lethal encounters.

Haynes said that despite the increase in violent crimes, many of which are from domestic violence cases, it is still low for a city the size of Mountlake Terrace.

Drones and customer service

King updated the City Council on investigations, records, animal control, evidence, community outreach, training and technology.

“The unmanned aerial systems program continues to grow and has become increasingly relevant to daily operations,” King said.

Several small drones were added to the department’s fleet last year and have been used to help find suspects and missing people in Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds.

King said they are implementing the SPIDR Tech platform—the world’s first customer service infrastructure built exclusively for law enforcement—to better assist the police force’s customer service side.

The Canadian-based Versaterm acquired SPIDR Tech in January 2020.

“A law enforcement agency’s relationship with its community begins with its customers,” King said.

He explained that agencies’ interactions with community members can build trust or cause adverse effects, which can be amplified in the age of social media. King said that SPIDR enables law enforcement to automatically send one-to-one text messages, emails and mobile-friendly surveys to crime victims, reporting parties and other community members.

King said that 102 investigations were assigned throughout 2024:

– Arson: 2
– Assault-Felony: 7
– Assault-Misdemeanor: 4
– Burglary: 10
– Child Protective Services: 5
– Death Investigations: 18
– Failure to Register as a Sex Offender or Kidnapper (RSO): 2
– Fraud or Forgery-Unlawful issuance of checks or drafts (UIBC): 1
– Malicious Mischief: 1
– Missing Person, Adult: 3
– Missing Person Juvenile (Runaway): 4
– Possession of Stolen Property: 5
– Robbery: 11
– Sex Offenses: 10
– Suspicious Circumstance: 10
– Theft-Felony: 1
– Theft-Misdemeanor: 1
– Traffic Offense: 1
– Threats: 3
– Vehicle Prowl-Felony: 3
– Vehicle Theft: 1
– Violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act (VUCSA): 1
– Weapons Violation 3

The full 2024 police presentation can be seen here.

– By Rick Sinnett