ARLINGTON—The Washington State Justice Training Commission held a soft open on Tuesday, October 22, for its newest regional law enforcement training center set to officially open in Arlington in February 2025.
Arlington’s law enforcement training center will be Washington State’s third regional training facility within the last two year facility following Pasco, which opened in 2023, and Vancouver in January of 2024.
The 2024 supplemental budget appropriated $6.987 million in 2024 and $4.968 million for 2025 to establish and provide basic law enforcement training at the three locations. While the facility will start with basic law enforcement training, it potentially could have the ability to run advanced training in the future such as K9 and FTO, David Miller, Director of Training at the Washington State Justice Training Commission, informed the Lynnwood Times.
The facility will have one classroom teaching basic law enforcement training—encompassing 720 hours of training—between two classes holding 30 law enforcement officers in-training at a time.
Before the regional training centers began opening, those seeking careers in law enforcement typically waited 18 months before starting their training, Miller added, taking two years before serving communities. Now if someone wants to begin their career in law enforcement training after the facility opens in February, that person can begin right away, he shared.
Since the southeast and southwest campuses opened, 112 law enforcement officers have graduated and are now serving Washington communities, there are currently six new recruits in training, 71 corrections officers have graduated from the Vancouver academy, and 33 are scheduled to graduate on December 9, 2024.
Monica Alexander, Executive Director for the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, thanked everyone for coming together to bringing new training centers across the finish, particularly Governor Jay Inslee for his quick response to supporting the project and sticking with it throughout the entire process, she shared.
“We want the best on our streets because it’s about honor and service and we will keep that in the forefront of our mind every time we select someone to do this work,” said Alexander.
Governor Inslee highlighted the importance of training and how it is critical to the provision of law enforcement officers in the state.
“We need more law enforcement officers in the state of Washington; we need them on our streets, we need them in our forensic labs, we need them throughout the law enforcement community both cities, counties, and state,” said Governor Inslee. “This is fundamental to achieving that more law enforcement officers are on the street. We all have recruiting challenges and the easier it is, the more convenient, the more local it is to get trained, the easier to get people to come into the law enforcement profession.”
For 13 years, according to the Washington Association of Sheriff’s & Police Chiefs (WASPC), the state has ranked last in the county with 1.36 commissioned law enforcement officers per 1,000 people in 2022, the lowest on to date on record. The national average is 2.31 officers per 1,000 people.
Data from 2022 shows a dramatic drop in commissioned law enforcement officers across Washington state starting in 2020 and persisting to the end of the reporting period. To address this shortage, Governor Jay Inslee during a July 2022 press conference, revealed a plan to add four law enforcement training centers across the state—Pasco, Everett (now Arlington), Bellingham, and Vancouver—to relieve the then four-month backlog of training recruits at the state’s only Basic Law Enforcement Academy in Burien.
“The women and men training at our regional academies represent a diverse, new, generation of policing,” said Sen. John Lovick (D-Mill Creek) who personally thanked Gov. Inslee and Director Alexander for diversifying the profession. “When we decided to train peace officers locally and have them stay and serve in their communities we went pass the finish line. In 18 months, we have not opened one, not two, but three regional law enforcement training academies in Washington and we’re not finished yet, let’s build more.”
Senator June Robinson (D-Everett), credited Lovick with championing the project and making sure it happened, although she joked that Senator Mike Padden was quick to remind her it was initially his idea.
Senator Lovick (D-Mill Creek) led the effort in 2023 and in the 2023-25 Operating Budget passed that year, monies were appropriated for three regional police training centers in the city of Pasco, and in Skagit and Clark counties. In the supplemental budget— Engrossed Senate Bill 5950—passed on March 7, lawmakers agreed to the Senate’s proposal of replacing Skagit with Snohomish County with hopes to close the gap of hundreds of police shortages across Washington state.
“Having regional training facilities for law enforcement officers is just something that if you stop and think about it just makes so much sense and I am so proud that we are standing here today, opening this academy, this facility here in the northwest region of the state,” said Robinson. “It will make such a difference in our communities and that’s why we’re here…we’re responding to the needs our communities have told us about over and over and most importantly for me, we’re responding to the women and men who are in our communities who will come here to be trained and become law enforcement officers throughout our region.”
Robinson continued that it’s unrealistic to ask law enforcement officers in training to enter an academy and leave their families for weeks at a time. Having a regional law enforcement training facility will those with children, or those assisting elderly parents, to attend training while returning home to tend to their family.
Snohomish County Sheriff Susanna Johnson, who spoke on behalf of law enforcement agencies, highlighted the difficulty of previous recruitment efforts, the challenge of building trust with community members, and how the new regional training facility will assist local families and recruiting women.
“We expect compassion and patience, but we also demand courage, strength, and tactics, and you don’t run into those people very often who have both. We vet very hard and then we turn them over to our academies and our instructors and expect them to do 30 years with us, and these are tough jobs,” said Sheriff Johnson. “Having this in our community means our local instructors can embody what’s important to our community and that foundation starts earlier and earlier, and that’s really critical. It’s the foundation for positive culture. It also helps us instill honor and service.”
“I think it’s really great to have this training center here in North County and it will provide great opportunities for up-and-coming law enforcement officers to get trained where they live and build the next generation of law enforcement right here in our local community who then can go on to serve in North Snohomish County,” County Council Vice President Nate Nehring, whose district is now home to the new training canter, told the Lynnwood Times.
Also in attendance were: Senators Keith Wagoner (LD-39), Mike Padden (LD-4), Marko Liias (LD-21), and Sharon Shewmake (LD-42); Representatives Sam Low (LD-39), Carolyn Eslick (LD-39), Dave Paul (LD-10), Clyde Shavers (LD-10), Davina Duerr (LD-01), Alicia Rule (LD-42), and David Hackney (LD-11); Arlington Mayor Don Vanney, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Lake Stevens Mayor Brett Gailey, Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell, Marysville Mayor John Nehring, Mill Creek Mayor Brian Holtzclaw, and Snohomish Mayor Linda Redmond. Snohomish County Council President Jared Mead, Vice President Nate Nehring, and Councilwoman Megan Dunn.
“It’s a great asset to the whole region,” Arlington Mayor Don Vanney told the Lynnwood Times. “It’s a win-win for everybody. I’m glad to see it here.”
Arlington Police Chief Jonathan Ventura assisted in scouting out the location of the new facility which is located at 19405 68th Drive Northeast that use to be used by UPS. The location is also near a variety of housing and dining options, he shared as a contributing factor to selecting the location.
“I just want thank Sen. Lovick and Sen. Padden and the rest of our delegation in Olympia for the very bipartisan fashion that got this done. It’s going to be a great thing for Snohomish County, Skagit County, Whatcom, Island, and San Juan County,” said Rep. Sam Low who voted to pass the bill for the project. “This is going to make getting officers on the street so much faster.”
When the Arlington regional law enforcement training center opens next year, it will serve Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island, and San Juan counties at a rate of approximately 60 graduates annually.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
