• Community growth has driven a 30% increase in call volume for police services and an 87% increase in reported crimes since 2018.
• In addition to increased call volume, the complexity of the calls to which VPD is responding more frequently requires multiple officers on scene for extended periods of time, consequently leaving portions of the community under-resourced for some part of each day.
• Reforms to policing practices undertaken locally and as a result of state-wide legislation have increased the need for training, supervision and officer development.
• A growth in demand for police services has strained departmental investigative capacity, resulting in nearly 3,100 cases with viable leads going uninvestigated each year.
• The increased call volume and associated decline in response times have also negatively impacted the City’s ability to perform proactive police response activities that prevent crimes.
• Staff engaged with a community advisory committee to codevelop a multi-stage staffing, equipment, and facility investment plan to address these gaps.
• The investment plan relies on property tax levies and a sales tax levy, to be proposed to voters and implemented over a six-year period. The first stage of this plan is property tax levy lid lift.

The City’s population has been increasing significantly since 2017. With that growing increase, calls for police service have increased as well. In addition, the complexity of calls has also been increasing. The current staffing level is insufficient to address the volume and complexity of calls. VPD is actively triaging calls for service and consistently prioritizing person and violent crimes. Approximately 3,100 reported crimes go uninvestigated per year.

Over the last decade, the City Manager’s Office has engaged the community in multiple ways regarding the services, outcomes, transparency, and accountability of the Vancouver Police Department. Building on this foundation, in early 2024, the City invited the community to come together for the next chapter of engagement on police-related matters.

The Police Community Advisory Committee was assembled in January 2024 to advise the City Manager on issues relating to police services in Vancouver. The committee includes 12 community members and three members of the City Council. The Committee reviewed the current levels of service, staffing, and outcomes VPD is delivering and trends in demand for service, such as call volume and criminal cases. Based on this review, the committee was tasked to advise on community values and priorities relative to a proposed increase in staffing capacity developed by the Office of the Police Chief.

The Committee has identified the following priorities, outcomes, and impacts to improve police services:

1. Build and strengthen relationships between VPD and the community.
2. Support partnerships that help reduce conflict and prevent crime, especially by expanding the capacity to co-response and complementary programs aimed at addressing urgent mental health or substance use concerns.
3. Maintain and improve overall VPD capacity and level of service
4. Retain and support VPD staff
5. Utilize technology to improve efficiency and community safety, including creating an automated traffic camera enforcement program.
   
   

To achieve the objectives above, the Committee has endorsed a six-year plan of staffing increase to ultimately add up to 116 full time employees (FTEs) to police and support services, including up to 80 sworn positions and up to 36 non-sworn FTEs as well as the creation of a traffic enforcement camera program, and expanding the Homeless Assistance and Resource Team (HART) program by four new positions by 2030. The non-sworn staff would be hired to support essential functions, such as records, evidence, analysis, community engagement, HART, and communications. An increase in police staffing will also include increased costs in the criminal justice system, from additional court costs to additional jail and corrections services. The programmatic expenses above are to be limited by sustainable new revenue and appropriated through the City’s regular budgetary process.

To fully implement the hiring investments described above, VPD would need an estimated $36 million annually by 2030. A new capital investment, a precinct, will also be required to house the newly added staff.

The Committee proposed the following funding approach: a permanent six-year property tax levy lid lift beginning in 2024, followed by a facilities bond in 2026 and a public safety sales tax in 2028 to round out the police's staffing needs.

At the July 1 and 7 Council meetings, the City Council reviewed the recommendations of the Committee. It directed staff to prepare a resolution to put a permanent multi-year levy lid lift request before voters during the November 2024 general election to increase the City regular levy by approximately $0.41 per $1,000 of assessed value (AV) in addition to the annual increase of 1% authorized by the Washington State law. In the subsequent five years, the total City regular levy is to be increased by 5% annually, and the resulting revenue in the year 2030 will serve as the basis for calculating all subsequent regular levies. The 2030 levy amount, less expiring levies, will be used to calculate subsequent levy limits in future years.

The City’s 2024 property tax levy rate is $2.364 per $1,000 in AV. This number includes a $0.2739 per $1,000 AV affordable housing levy which is levied separately from the regular property tax levy. With the proposed regular property tax levy rate increase of approximately $0.41 per $1,000 AV, the estimated regular property levy rate for the City will not exceed $2.63 per $1,000 AV for taxes levied in 2025. The total levy rate is anticipated to grow to $3.125 per $1,000 AV by 2030 and will start declining annually thereafter.

If approved by voters, the proposed levy lid lift increase is anticipated to cost an owner of a $500,000 house a total of $205 more per year in City taxes in 2025 and an estimated $585 per year, in today’s dollars, in 2030.

The Committee is invited to remain engaged on an ongoing basis to work with the city manager’s office in support of transparency and accountability for implementation of these resources and the targeted outcomes anticipated to be supported by this additional staffing.

1. If the Council approves the resolution, the levy measure will be placed on the November 5, 2024, ballot.
2. If a majority of voters approve, additional property tax revenues will increase the City’s resources to provide police and public safety services.