295 Years Of Experience At Everett PD Gone In First Six Months Of This Year

At the most recent City Council meeting Police Chief Dan Templeman mentioned the Everett Police Department is losing 295 years of combined police experience in just the first six months of 2021. Announced resignations include six officers, three sergeants, two lieutenants and one deputy chief.

MyEverettNews.com reached out to the Police Department with some questions on how these resignations may affect policing in Everett, Washington now and in the future as the department looks to undergo a year-long review of operations at the request of the Everett City Council. We received our answers from Deputy Police Chief John DeRousse.

(Q) How many current openings are there to fill to meet your staffing number at this time? (appreciating this is always a moving target) and is there a majority reason given for the current number of resignations? Do you hear one thing more than another from those resigning?

(A) There are 11 vacant positions that still need to be filled. Nearly all of the employees that have left the agency have left because they a had reached retirement age.

(Q) There has been or will be a bit of shuffling in the “middle management” ranks of Sergeants and Lieutenants. Does this create opportunities for culture changes?

(A) Anytime you have such a large change in staff members, there are opportunities to make adjustments. All of the promotions include officers moving into new positions of leadership, but these employees have been here for years, and they understand how our agency works, but also the challenges we are facing and the need to adjust some police practices. Through good mentorship, we can help these new supervisors steer the ship and help the department evolve with the changing requirements of the profession. However, they also bring new and fresh ideas and ways to do things that we hadn’t considered before.

(Q) Over the next 12 months a comprehensive review of the police department will take place with a stated goal of looking to operate in a cost-efficient manner. Will that factor into moves made today to fill current vacancies?

(A) We will see. We look forward to seeing what the assessment says about how we conduct the business of policing. The potential results of that assessment has not factored into the placement of our recently promoted staff or other moves. However, we may make changes base on that future feedback.

(Q) Anything else you’d like the public to know about policing in Everett in 2021?

(A) The Everett Police Department stays committed to listening to our community. We constantly review their feedback and consider different perspectives, through programs such as the Chief’s Community Advisory Board, attendance at neighborhood meetings, review of Spidr-Tech surveys, responding to their e-mails, etc.