Olympia, Washington — Washington’s new $100 million police hiring grant program has not yet resulted in any officers being hired, despite being championed by Gov. Bob Ferguson as a response to the state’s last-place ranking in per-capita police staffing.
Local officials say the rollout has been slow and burdened by technical and administrative hurdles. Only six police departments have applied so far, even though the first round of applications remains open through the end of March. The Criminal Justice Training Commission expects to announce awards weeks after the deadline.
To qualify, cities and counties must meet detailed requirements, including adopting state model policing policies, conducting crisis intervention training, collecting use-of-force data, and either enacting a new 0.1% sales tax or already having a qualifying public safety tax in place. Some local leaders argue the requirements create excessive bureaucracy for what they describe as limited short-term funding that expires in 2028.
Seattle has approved the new sales tax and expects it to generate $39 million this year. Elsewhere, officials have expressed concern that the tax may not produce sufficient long-term revenue to sustain new hires once grant funding ends.
Ferguson acknowledged early complaints about complexity but said he is “not totally worried” as the program continues to develop.
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