Issue Spotlight: Preserve Programs that Bring Officers & the Community Together

In June, the Washington Department of Commerce published its report to the Legislature on the Community-Law Enforcement Partnership (CLEP), a grant program created in 2021 to strengthen the relationship between officers and the communities they serve by funding neighborhood organizing, youth mentoring, business-safety efforts, and partnerships that put officers and residents in the same room to solve local problems together. 

The report shows what these partnerships looked like on the ground over the last two years: officers coaching at youth sporting events, sitting down with small business owners on crime prevention, and working alongside neighborhood groups to find solutions to issues facing their communities. This is the part of the job that rarely makes the news – officers doing the quieter work of caretaking, mentoring, and building trust. CLEP was built to support exactly that, which is why WACOPS was proud to be part of the advisory group that helped design the program.

Unfortunately, Washington's most recent budget did not include funding to continue CLEP. While we understand the pressures facing the legislature, we strongly believe that this critical program is one that deserves to continue. As the Legislature looks toward the next budget, we hope lawmakers will revisit this decision and reinvest in the partnerships that build the trust that public safety depends on.

Read the Report

Public Safety by the Numbers

13

The number of communities across Washington where Community-Law Enforcement Partnership grants funded officer-community programs from 2023-2025, reaching tens of thousands of residents through youth mentoring, neighborhood organizing, and business-safety work. The most recent state budget did not renew this funding.

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WACOPS in Action: Honoring the Brave Officers at Seattle Center

On the evening of July 26, gunfire broke out at the Bite of Seattle festival at Seattle Center, killing three people and wounding four others, including a toddler. Officers and security officials working at the festival heard the shots and ran toward them immediately - a Seattle police sergeant on patrol nearby pushed through the fleeing crowd toward the gunfire, saw the shooter firing into a group of people, and arrested him as he tried to flee, while other officers went straight to the wounded and rendered aid until medics arrived. We hold the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

Running toward gunfire without hesitation and without staging or backup goes above and beyond any job description. It's a split-second decision that officers make every day, drawing on a lifelong commitment to the people they have sworn to protect. This is the profession at its best and we are grateful to every officer who acted that night. 

Meet Our Team: Chris Tracy, President

Chris Tracy is the President of WACOPS, leading the organization's board, staff, and legislative work on behalf of more than 6,000 officers across Washington. He comes to the role as an active-duty Tacoma police officer and a member of Tacoma Police Union Local 6, where he serves on his department's honor guard. That grounding shapes how he leads: he speaks for officers as someone who is still on the job alongside them. During his tenure, WACOPS has grown its membership by welcoming new guilds into the fold and has stood behind the organizations that support officers and their families, including the Behind the Badge Foundation and its work supporting families after a line-of-duty death. Whether the issue is pensions, collective bargaining, officer safety, or the health of the profession, Chris keeps WACOPS focused on the people who wear the badge.