More than 300 cars were stolen in Olympia last year. What’s OPD doing to reverse the trend?
Olympia Police Chief Rich Allen says that over the last several years auto thefts have been on the rise throughout the state, including in the capital. In 2023 there were 303, and 27 attempted auto thefts. The year prior, there were 364 in total.
Allen said though 276 vehicles were recovered last year, and it appears the crime is now on a downward trend in Olympia, the number is still too high.
Right now, OPD combats auto thefts by posting crime prevention tips on social media, he said. Some auto companies that see more thefts than others have recalled some types of cars for upgrades to prevent theft. And officers try to make arrests as often as they can.
But to combat the issue on a larger scale, OPD is turning to technology.
The city is contracting with Flock Safety, a company that specializes in making and installing automated license-plate readers. Grant funding from the Department of Commerce totaling $100,000 will allow the city to conduct a two-year pilot program that installs 16 cameras on the west side near the Capital Mall Triangle. There also will be some installed near Interstate 5 exits on the east side.
Vehicle information is captured by the cameras, including license plate numbers, make, model, and paint color. It doesn’t capture any information on people inside the vehicle. The cameras will be on 24/7 and information is automatically uploaded to a searchable database.
The database will be used by Olympia police to determine if a vehicle was stolen or used in another crime. It also automatically determines if the vehicle is the subject of an Amber or Silver Alert, used to notify the community of people who are in danger.
The information and photos are stored in the database for 30 days and then automatically deleted unless the vehicle is stolen or the subject of another crime. It’s then subject to state law that requires seven years’ retention of public records.
There will also be a public-facing transparency page built that will help the public understand the information being gathered and how often and why the database is being used.
Allen said many cities have seen benefits from these cameras. He said a homicide suspect was located using this technology last year in Tukwila. In Yakima, the technology has helped police solve 11 homicides, a number of robberies and more.
He said Yakima had a 13% decrease in robberies and a 26% decrease in property damage in 2023, and its city leaders attribute the decrease to the success of the Flock systems.
Car theft data in Olympia
Allen said of the 276 vehicles that were recovered last year, 43% of those arrested were from Olympia, meaning more than half of the car theft suspects arrested here are coming from outside the community.
Almost 36% of the recovered vehicles were found in Olympia. Another 23% were somewhere in Pierce County, and 11% were somewhere in Thurston County.
Of those arrested, 78.9% of them were men and 68.6% were white.
