Tacoma business owners speak with police chief about crime concerns

A business owner in Tacoma said he’s facing criminals so fearless that they took a lunch break before finishing a robbery.

The Tacoma Business Council held a virtual question-and-answer session with Tacoma police chief Avery Moore on Monday to discuss business owners’ concerns about rising crime.

Kristen Wynne, the president of TBC, said hundreds of business owners in Tacoma have reached out to participate in the organization.

“Businesses felt like their voices weren’t being heard,” Kristina Maritczak, the chair of TBC’s Solution Committee, said.

Business owners said police aren’t responding fast enough.

Tuan Ngo, the owner of La Bella Nail Spa, said his salon has faced more property crimes and robberies in the last year than ever before. During a recent robbery in the middle of the day, the criminals made themselves comfortable.

“Before they robbed us, they ate. They brought a cup of noodles, they cooked it in the microwave, they sat on our couch and ate. And they laid down for 15 minutes. And then they started taking our money, taking our computer, taking everything else,” said Ngo.

The salon owner said Tacoma police showed up three hours after he called 911.

Ngo said he has lost about $15,000 due to crimes.

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“(One) hour, now two hours (to respond to a crime), and then when they come, there’s nothing they can do about it. It’s a small crime. Yet a small crime hurts a small business, right?” said Ngo.

During Monday’s meeting, the police chief was asked about the slow response times.

“When my officers are responding to a homicide, that means they may not be able to respond to a window being broken out at that time because this is going to take priority,” said Moore.

Moore said the Tacoma Police Department is short 55 officers. That means prioritizing violent crimes before investigating incidents that aren’t an immediate risk to life.

Business owners said the lack of visibility of police officers was also an issue, but Moore said that has changed in the last two weeks. Moore said more officers are out in public now and overall, crime has decreased 43% in the last month.

That’s good news for business owners like Ngo, but even more so in his roles as a father and a husband. Ngo said he’s proud to call Tacoma home.

“Most important, my family should feel safe. We don’t feel safe. And that’s the thing about Tacoma right now, that my family doesn’t feel safe,” said Ngo.

Moore said an analyst from the University of Texas is currently collecting Tacoma’s crime data. Moore will present an overview of his Tacoma crime plan next Tuesday. It will be the first time he will publicly share his strategy to accomplish his goal: to turn Tacoma into the safest city in the country.