Why did police chief reassign Tumwater school resource officer? Here’s an update
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Police reassigned one of two school resource officers to preserve patrol staffing levels.
- Department reports about 30% of sworn positions unavailable due to vacancies and training.
- Chief prioritizing SRO slot and says recruitment, hiring processes have been revamped.
The Tumwater School District has temporarily lost one of its two school resource officers due to staffing shortages across the police department, Acting Chief Carlos Quiles said in a Feb. 21 statement on the city’s website.
The change has since been met with criticism from the community, prompting the police department to shed more light on the situation.
According to Quiles’ statement from Feb. 21, one of the two SROs was temporarily reassigned in order to maintain minimum patrol staffing levels necessary to respond to emergencies in a timely manner. Quiles said all other specialty positions within the department were reassigned as well.
“It was, quite simply, the last available option to preserve essential patrol staffing,” he said.
Quiles said many law enforcement agencies across the state and nation are currently experiencing a significant staffing shortage. He said approximately 30% of Tumwater’s sworn officer positions are unavailable due to vacancies, officers awaiting academy placement, personnel in training, or officers being assigned limited duty status because of medical conditions.
“These realities require us to continually evaluate how we deploy our personnel to ensure we can meet our most critical responsibility, responding to emergencies and protecting the public,” he said.
Quiles told The Olympian on March 6 that the department has 37 commissioned officers, and that eight vacancies for that size of a department is significant.
Quiles said Officer Seth Stauffer is now the sole SRO and covers both high schools and both middle schools in Tumwater.
“He is a dedicated and highly capable officer who is performing exceptionally well in this role,” Quiles said. “He has my full confidence, and our department remains committed to ensuring that any concerns, incidents, or emergencies within our schools are addressed promptly by Officer Stauffer and our patrol personnel.”
Quiles said in the Feb. 21 statement that the presence of SROs in schools is still a priority for the department. He said restoring the second position will be the first specialty assignment that’s reestablished once TPD is able.
The department then posted another statement from Quiles on social media March 4 to respond to community concerns, and to provide more context. He said the decision to temporarily reassign the SRO was not made lightly, and that it was a necessary adjustment to keep the patrol division properly staffed.
Quiles said filling the vacant SRO positions is one of the department’s top priorities.
The March 4 statement said misinformation on the situation had been circulating, and the community had called for greater transparency and planning.
Quiles told The Olympian that there were inaccurate statements circulating that the department was reducing its commitment to the SRO program rather than making a temporary adjustment to meet a temporary staffing shortage.
Quiles said there’s historical context behind the current staffing shortage. He said the shortage has been building since 2024.
“With four additional vacancies occurring in 2026, the department reached a total of eight vacancies, conditions inherited by new city and department leadership,” he said.
Quiles told The Olympian that two of the vacancies were retirements, one was for a medical concern, and the last was created by the departure of former Chief Jay Mason.
Quiles said the department could not continue past hiring practices and has made changes to prioritize recruitment and retention. He said those changes include increasing recruitment efforts and the frequency of applicant interviews, as well as accelerating background checks and “streamlining” the hiring process.
“Filling these vacancies remains one of our highest priorities,” he said. “This work requires time, persistence, and a commitment to hiring high quality officers who best serve our community.”
In a statement posted to social media on March 6, the Tumwater Police Guild Executive Board said the SRO program has not been abandoned and continues to be staffed by an officer, even while the department is experiencing a staffing shortage.
The board said staffing shortages remain a cyclical issue for agencies everywhere and aren’t a new phenomenon. However, the board said “meaningful changes” to hiring practices have been made in recent months that “were not possible under the previous administration.”
“The Guild strongly supports the current administration and has formally endorsed Acting Chief Quiles to serve as the department’s next Chief of Police,” the board said. “We have already seen substantial progress in addressing the numerous issues that developed over several years of ineffective leadership within the organization. We also appreciate that the new Mayor and City Administrator have demonstrated a willingness to listen, engage, and work collaboratively with department personnel.”
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