A Downtown Tacoma Business Improvement Area (BIA) official announced today the Tacoma Police Department (TPD) will replace two police officers who have patrolled the area the past eight years, and add two Community Liaison Officers (CLO) to the area.
According to Chelsea Levy, BIA Manager and Metropolitan Development Manager for the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, officers Jim Pincham and Marty Price have worked downtown since 2001. The pair’s six-year assignment was set to expire in 2007, but TPD agreed to allow the officers to remain on patrol an additional two years. “Weve been notified by the Tacoma Police Department that their time is up and downtown will get two new officers starting January,” said Levy in a post on the BIA’s blog. “Jim and Marty have been true assets to the downtown community. During their tenure, downtown has experienced a dramatic decrease in crime, a trend we hope to continue with their replacements.”
According to TPD, the new officers will patrol downtown on bikes and work the swing shift from the afternoon into the night. According to a recent analysis by the BIA, calls for police service downtown are highest between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Additionally, CLOs Wayne Beales and Scott Newbold will cover downtown from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“Between the new schedule for the downtown officers and the newly assigned CLOs, there will be more dedicated police coverage for downtown than weve had in years,” added Levy.
For more information, visit http://tacomadowntown.blogspot.com/ .
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In 2007, the Index spoke with Officer Pincham about public safety downtown for a feature about the BIA bike patrol. To read the article, click here — http://www.wahmee.com/tdi_bia_bike_patrol.pdf
