As Kirkland’s Police Chief, I thank you for your recent article (“Traffic Stop Surge”) highlighting the recent hiring of 20 officers as part of the Police Department’s plan to serve the soon-to-be annexed neighborhoods of Finn Hill, North Juanita, and Kingsgate.
As a 23-year veteran of the Kirkland Police Department, I have always been clear in the public’s expectation of police services – especially in traffic enforcement, as it is our most visible public service.
Your article accurately reflects that there are more patrol officers who have been hired in recent months and that there has been an increase in traffic citations. What might be helpful to the reader is to know that the number of citations per officer has not increased. It’s also
important for residents to know that the hiring has also resulted in more neighborhood-focused traffic control, crime prevention, and proactive safety programs.
Further, it has allowed for highly experienced officers to support major crimes investigations, such as fraud, and other personnel to attend mandatory training on a non-overtime basis.
Your article prompted a recent letter to the editor that caught my attention. The resident, in my opinion, implies that officers have nothing better to do than to issue traffic citations.
This is simply not the case.
Our police officers patrol our community with a single-minded focus and purpose, which is to keep you safe and safeguard your quality of life. When not responding to 9-1-1 calls or other such police-related activity, our officers are encouraged to use current crime trends, data, experience, and citizen input to have a positive impact on safety concerns in Kirkland.
The Kirkland Police Department’s traffic safety philosophy is straightforward: we simply don’t want people dying or being seriously injured on our roadways. Changing poor driving behavior is a fundamental factor to community safety, and a highly visible traffic enforcement program is a critical element to our community safety priority. There is no denying that traffic enforcement reduces accidents and enhances safety.
The men and women of the Kirkland Police Department are committed to providing the greatest degree of safety they can for Kirkland. Highly visible traffic enforcement is an important tool in community safety. Numerous studies have shown that a highly visible police presence reduces crimes in other areas, such as property crimes, assaults and burglaries. I, my command staff, commissioned officers and civilian personnel are proud to serve all of Kirkland.
Eric Olsen is the Kirkland Police Department’s chief of police.
