(The Center Square) – Despite a dearth of police officers and a rise in violent crime, Washington made the top 10 in terms of the best states to be a cop, according to a new ranking by WalletHub.
The personal finance website determined state rankings in its “2023’s Best & Worst States to Be a Police Officer” by looking at all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 30 key indicators, including median income for police, police deaths per 1,000 officers, and local police-protection expenses per capita.
“Washington is the eighth best state to be a police officer,” WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez confirmed in an email to The Center Square, which could be viewed as a surprising result given the state of law enforcement and crime in Washington.
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs’ annual crime report released last summer showed violent crime – murder, aggravated assault, robbery and rape – went up by 12.3% in 2021. There were 325 murders that year, an increase of 5.9% over 2020, following a 47% increase the year before.
Meanwhile, Washington lost 495 police officers statewide in 2021.
The police force in the state’s largest city, Seattle, continues to struggle with recruitment and retention of officers, who have been leaving the department in record numbers since 2020. That year, the Seattle City Council voted to cut almost 20% of the police department’s budget, with the council having made headlines for previously pledging to slash the budget by 50%.
As reported by The Center Square, the Seattle Police Department has experienced a net loss of six officers through March 16, which represents an improvement over the 2022 year-to-date net loss of 28, according to an online presentation by the department to the city’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee. Nevertheless, the department is not on pace to meet the city’s goal of a net gain of 500 officers in the next five years.
Yakima, located in central Washington, is also looking at fewer officers on the street in proposing cuts to save the city from a future budget gap, The Center Square reported Wednesday.
The Yakima Police Department is budgeted for 143 sworn police officers, but the actual number of sworn police officers has been near or below 130 since 2019, the department says. Yakima police officials are proposing 15 cuts within its department, including 11 sworn positions, for $2.1 million in savings.
A rise in crime and falling staff levels plaguing police departments across Washington didn’t dissuade Gonzalez from offering up reasons for Washington’s eighth-place finish in WalletHub’s study.
“This is because it has the highest average starting salary for police officers at almost $8,000 and the second highest median income for law enforcement officers,” she explained. “The state also has a requirement for de-escalation training, the police misconduct records are mostly public, it has eight laws regarding police body-worn cameras, as well as laws relating to the investigation or prosecution of use of force.”
The WalletHub study contends that officers are more likely to be attracted to scandal- and corruption-free police departments that are open with the communities they serve.
“Other factors that contributed to the high ranking include the laws on the use of lethal force by law enforcement officers, the ‘Red Flag’ laws that allow the seizure of guns before people can commit acts of violence, and the ‘Blue Alerts’ that provide the means to speed the apprehension of violent criminals who kill or seriously injure law enforcement officers,” Gonzalez continued.
At least one police department in Washington has managed to turn things around in terms of staffing.
Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla this week told KING 5 News his department hired a record 32 officers in 2022 and now has 167 sworn officers, which fills up the department’s vacancies.
The reversal of last year’s mass exodus from the department was accomplished by casting a wider net in terms of recruitment and a 16% pay increase – approved by the Kent City Council in late 2021 – that went into effect last year.
Per the WalletHub study, the 10 best states to be a police officer are:
1. California
2. District of Columbia
3. Connecticut
4. Maryland
5. Illinois
6. Ohio
7. Colorado
8. Washington
9. New York
10. Massachusetts
The 10 worst states to be a police officer are:
51. Arkansas
50. Alaska
49. West Virginia
48. Kentucky
47. Nevada
46. Alabama
45. Mississippi
44. Louisiana
43. South Carolina
42. Oregon
This article First appeared in the center square