Federal Way Police Department turning 20 next week
Published 10:00 am Saturday, October 8, 2016
The Federal Way Police Department will mark its 20th anniversary next week with a modest celebration featuring addresses from officials, recognition of staff and volunteers, and a slideshow of the department over the last two decades.
The event will be held at 2 p.m. at City Hall (33325 8th Ave. S.) on Thursday, Oct. 13.
“Federal Way Police Department was an unprecedented startup in 1996,” said department spokeswoman Cathy Schrock, who’s been employed by the department since its inception.
That year, the 6-year-old city of Federal Way contracted with the King County Sheriff’s Office for its law enforcement needs. The cost soon exceeded the services in residents’ and civic leaders’ estimation, Schrock said, and the department started forming in response to that.
Mid-September to the following month saw a gradual transition of responsibility from the sheriff’s office to the local police force, and the latter assumed full responsibility and full operation on Oct. 15, 1996.
“It was quite the accomplishment to establish the department for a city who at the time had a population of 75,000,” Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell said in a statement. “Federal Way is fortunate to have such an outstanding police department. The men and women who serve our community in uniform, as well as those who serve the department in a non-uniformed capacity, are truly the best amongst us.”
Around 20 percent of the department today was around for the grand opening, Schrock said.
“At the 20-year mark we have just over 30 employees of our 160 that we refer to as our ‘founding members’ that have been here since we started.”
Twenty years makes Federal Way’s a relatively young police department. The department in nearby Kent, for example, is 127 years old this year. The oldest formal department in the U.S., the Boston Police Department, is marking its 178th year.
“The 1996 creation of a police department from scratch the size of Federal Way’s had only been accomplished a few times in this country at this time; we were in uncharted territory,” Schrock said. “All of our employees today and into the next 20 years will leave the legacy of being part of a startup agency. In the beginning, we came together from 37 different police agencies and 18 states. Even upon reaching this milestone of 20 years, we’re infants in comparison to our regional partners with a legacy dating back over 100 years.”
