Auto theft numbers trending downward in Federal Way

Published 5:30 am Saturday, April 11, 2026

Auto theft numbers are down in Federal Way, dipping below pre-pandemic numbers, with city officials citing the change in Washington state pursuit laws as a contributing factor to this decrease.

According to data the Federal Way Mirror obtained through a public records request, auto thefts in Federal Way peaked in 2023 at 1,722 auto theft reports, then hit a record low — since 2019 — of 422 auto theft reports.

2019: 601 theft reports, and 723 vehicles recovered in Federal Way.

2020: 727 theft reports, and 837 vehicles recovered in Federal Way.

2021: 903 theft reports, and 988 vehicles recovered in Federal Way.

2022: 1,274 theft reports, and 1,280 vehicles recovered in Federal Way.

2023: 1,722 theft reports, and 1,662 vehicles recovered in Federal Way.

2024: 916 theft reports, and 1,010 vehicles recovered in Federal Way.

2025: 422 theft reports, and 372 vehicles recovered in Federal Way.

According to Federal Way Police Department Chief Andy Hwang, the reductions are a meaningful and positive shift, but the decline is particularly significant because auto theft is often a precursor to other serious offenses.

“Stolen vehicles are often used in robberies, ‘smash-and-grab’ burglaries, vehicles being rammed into businesses, reckless driving incidents and attempts to elude law enforcement, sometimes resulting in serious or fatal collisions,” Hwang said. “As auto theft declines, we are also seeing decreases in these related crimes, which contributes to improved overall public safety.”

Regarding why auto theft numbers were so high in 2023, Hwang said many factors contributed, such as national trends, organized crime rings and the increased vulnerability of certain vehicle models. However, Hwang said one of the most significant local factors was the change to Washington state’s pursuit law from July 2021.

“That change limited when officers could pursue suspected vehicles, including those believed to be stolen. As a result, many offenders understood that there was a reduced likelihood of being stopped in the moment,” Hwang said. “This created an environment where individuals felt emboldened to steal vehicles, knowing they could often avoid immediate apprehension.”

Hwang said the June 2024 update to Washington state’s pursuit laws helped reverse the auto-theft trend. Hwang said that with clearer authority to pursue in appropriate circumstances, officers regained an important tool to hold offenders accountable.

Since the repeal of the no-pursuit law, the number of fatal collisions throughout the state has begun to trend downward. Hwang said there were 809 fatal collisions in 2023, a 33-year high, but in 2024, with the repeal of the pursuit law mid-year, that number fell to 731. Hwang said the 2025 fatal collision numbers are not out yet, but an estimate is 644, and he believes the official number will be slightly lower.

In addition to auto theft being down, Hwang cited that in 2025, crime was down overall 27% in Federal Way, with robbery down 52%, aggravated assault down 33%, commercial burglary down 61%, residential burglary down 40% and auto theft down 57%.

Regarding what the Federal Way Police Department currently does to mitigate auto thefts, Hwang said the department takes a multi-faceted approach, and steady increases in staffing has helped. Hwang said with more officers on the streets, the department can provide greater visibility in neighborhoods and business districts, which is a strong deterrent. He said better staffing also allows for more thorough follow-up on investigations, so repeat offenders can be held accountable.

To prevent auto theft, Hwang recommended basic prevention habits such as always locking car doors, ensuring keys are not in the car, removing or hiding valuable items, not leaving a car running unattended, and parking in well-lit areas. He said residents can also consider installing a car alarm or a GPS tracking system.

Federal Way mayor’s thoughts

Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell said seeing a decrease in auto thefts is gratifying, noting that in the last two years, auto theft in Federal Way dropped about 75%. According to Ferrell, a big contributor to the decrease in auto theft and overall crime was the repeal of the no-pursuit law and law enforcement’s ability to arrest people for drug offenses. Ferrell said nearly every crime that was occurring in the city was being committed in a stolen car.

“When you cannot pursue those stolen cars, it has catastrophic impacts on our community,” Ferrell said. “I can tell you this. Washington state, to my knowledge, was number four in the nation in raw numbers of stolen cars. But we were number one per capita in regard to stolen cars per population, and it was just really outrageous.”

Ferrell, who was formerly a King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor, said that his last assignment before leaving that position was in the auto theft unit. Ferrell said from his experience, a small number of people are committing almost all of the auto thefts, and those same people are committing the robberies and burglaries. So, when the people committing auto thefts can be pursued and arrested, crime numbers start to decrease.

“There are people who are professional car thieves, and they had a heyday when this law went into effect,” Ferrell said. “And really, at the expense of our community, and now we’ve been able to hold these offenders accountable.”

Ferrell said that, at the same time that pursuits were not generally permitted, street drugs were “de facto” legalized because there was legislation that required two warnings before officers could arrest people for drug crimes. However, Ferrell said there was no database tracking warnings. He said that in conjunction with the pursuit laws, it was a serious public safety issue.

“Crimes like robbery, car theft, burglary, those are really what they call quality of life crimes that affect people on a real basic level,” Ferrell said. “There’s nothing more basic being violated than having your home burglarized or your business burglarized or your car stolen or having something robbed from your person.”

Ferrell cited one 2023 incident in which the City of Federal Way was a victim, resulting in a total of $401,233 in losses from the parks and public works storage unit.

In that incident, on Nov. 15, 2023, a break-in occurred at the Steel Lake maintenance facility, during which many tools and a trailer were stolen. Ferrell said that officers saw the thief take items, but could not pursue.

“We came upon somebody stealing our own trailer, loaded it up with hundreds, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of tools, and they rammed the gate in front of our officers, took off, got on the freeway, and we were unable to follow them,” Ferrell said. “We just had to watch them drive away with hundreds of thousands of dollars of our material and a trailer.”