Behind The Scenes, Lacey, WA Police Department is a ‘Mess,’ Union Says

The Lacey, WA Police Officers' Guild is deeply concerned about the internal operations of the Lacey, WA Police Department. The guild has filed a complaint with the state Department of Labor and Industries.

During contract negotiations, the Police Officers' Guild presented the results of a survey of officer morale, which had a 92 percent response rate. Of those who responded, nearly 80 percent said morale was low. Nearly half rated stress and conflict within the department as very high, and 84 percent felt that command staff do not set the right example for officers.

Yet after presenting his findings, Kollmann (the guild president) was stunned when the survey was met with silence and simply filed away. “Not a word from HR, or the chief,” Kollmann said. “It’s like they bury their heads in the sand and don’t acknowledge it.”

Despite the city’s and guild’s differences, the sides agree that Lacey police continue to do a good job of keeping overall crime rates low, according to city data. Data for 2017 show that the city’s crime rate per 1,000 population was 65 incidents, below the state average of 69.1. The violent crime rate was 3.3 incidents, also below the state average of 3.7.  (The Olympian, August 2, 2018)
--

Lacey is not the only department in western Washington with serious morale issues. We saw in early July 2018 that Seattle Cops Were Fleeing the Force in 'Mass Exodus' Because of Politics.

The problem here is not our police officers on the street. Most officers want to do a good job, and are in fact doing so. But, very low morale among officers and very high stress and conflict within the departments is almost certainly going to affect how officers do their jobs over time.