Vehicle thefts and burglaries soared in 2022, new Lacey crime data show
Motor vehicle thefts and burglaries soared in Lacey in 2022, two sets of preliminary data that stood out during a presentation to a city council committee on Tuesday.
The crime statistics were part of the National Incident-Based Reporting System provided by the FBI.
Lacey Police Chief Robert Almada presented the information to the General Government and Public Safety committee, which includes Mayor Andy Ryder and council members Lenny Greenstein and Ed Kunkel.
Almada attributed both increases to 2021 changes in state law that restricted police pursuits.
“You can’t tie the hands of law enforcement and not expect crime to go up,” he said. “It’s going to happen, unfortunately.”
Auto thefts rose more than 30 percent to 270 in 2022 from 200 in 2021, while burglaries — and Almada said they were mostly commercial burglaries — jumped nearly 50 percent to 256 incidents last year, from 171 in 2021.
Almada said his officers have found stolen cars in Lacey and some outside the area. Some stolen vehicles are used for transportation and some are used for parts, he said.
Almada said just this week a Lacey police officer identified a stolen car at an area motel and approached the driver about it. The driver then suddenly backed up and drove in the direction of the officer, who was able to get out of the way, he said.
“That’s the kind of stuff we are seeing on a routine basis,” Almada said.
He believes that changes in pursuit laws emboldened commercial burglary suspects, giving them a sense that once they are in a car, they can’t be caught.
“They can’t touch me,” he said. “That is the belief.”
The Legislature is considering alterations to the police pursuit law. House Bill 1363, supported by law enforcement, would restore the reasonable suspicion threshold for police to pursue drivers they believe have committed one of six particular crimes: violent offenses, sex offenses, vehicular assaults, escapes, assault involving domestic violence, and driving under the influence.
Lacey’s overall crime rate was 59.1 incidents per 1,000 people in 2022, up from 55.7 per 1,000 people in 2021. The city’s population also rose 6 percent over the same period, Almada said.
In addition to expressing his frustration over changes in the pursuit law, Almada raised concerns about some current legislation, including Substitute House Bill 1513, which would limit law enforcement officers from pulling over drivers for non-moving violations, such as broken tail lights or parking tickets.
Council member Greenstein asked how the council could help.
Almada urged them to call and lobby state lawmakers, saying legislators are tired of hearing from police.
“Some lawmakers think we’re being passive-aggressive or are pouting,” he said. But Almada said police need tools to do their jobs effectively.
This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
