Challenges and community service in Kent | Police Chief Ken Thomas

First, let me start by saying how honored I am to be our new Kent Police chief. This has been a very humbling experience and a dream come true for me personally and professionally. I am very excited to lead such an outstanding organization with a great group of people.

These past six months as chief have been challenging yet rewarding. I sometimes reflect back to 22 years ago when I was a new recruit at the police academy and a fellow officer had to carry my gun for me.  I was only 20 and not old enough to legally carry my own handgun.  During those times, I was focused on staying up late, driving fast and catching bad guys.  As chief, things are a little more complicated, but I love every minute of the responsibility entrusted to me.

The recent gang violence on the West Hill warrants discussion.  This terrible incident was the result of rival gang members from the greater Seattle area, Yakima, Centralia and as far away as California coming together in one location for a car show and concert.  Unfortunately, the promoter of this event did not contact the city and request the required permits, and even told the property owner there would only be 3-5 cars present.  What actually occurred was a parking lot full of cars and 200-300 people.

Our detectives are making significant progress on this investigation.  I am confident we will identify and arrest the criminals responsible.

The Kent Police Department is taking a leadership role by coordinating a group of over 60 local and federal law enforcement leaders to develop a plan to address the regional gang violence problem.  In the short term, we created a South King County Violent Gang Initiative, which establishes the King County Regional Intelligence Group as the clearing house for the intake, analysis and distribution of criminal gang intelligence for all agencies in the region.  Next, a group of investigators will work collaboratively to identify and actively target for investigation the most violent gangs and gang members.

I understand these are short term responses and to effectively deal with the gang problem we need to incorporate gang prevention and intervention programs. I’m proud of the across-the-board cooperation and participation by law enforcement in addressing this serious issue.

Our department is actively engaged in intelligence-led policing.  We hold weekly meetings to review reported crimes, calls for service and intelligence information learned from informants and street sources.  This information is used to effectively deploy the resources needed to address crime and quality of life issues.  We also try to utilize crime prevention techniques and provide information to the community.  This often leads to a perception of high crime in our city; however, I’m pleased to report this perception is not consistent with reality.

One of the most accurate methods to determine how we are doing is to measure the crime rate.  The rates are based on the number of crimes committed per 1,000 population. This is especially important when you factor in the changing population of the city through annexation.

Since 2007, the crime rate for auto thefts has decreased by 55 percent.  The theft-from-vehicle crime rate has decreased by 54 percent. We are very attentive to robbery and residential burglary, which we believe are on the rise.  But when looking at the data, the robbery crime rate has actually decreased by 19 percent.  The residential burglary crime rate has decreased by 9 percent since 2007.  The reduction in crime rates paints a positive picture of how crime is trending in our community.

The number one goal of our police department is to keep our community safe.  Leading a department that emphasizes customer service and public trust are very important values to me.

As a way of reaching out, we will host quarterly Chief’s Forums throughout the city.  The first event will be held Tuesday, at 7 p.m. Aug. 30  at the Kent Phoenix Academy.  Watch for additional details about this forum and other topics on our Facebook page at facebook.com/kentpolicedepartment.

I consider it a privilege to serve as your police chief.  The men and women of our department will continue to serve our community safely, professionally and effectively.