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Tag: Everett Police Department

  • Everett Reactivates Flock Camera Network After SB 6002 Becomes Law

    Everett Reactivates Flock Camera Network After SB 6002 Becomes Law

    Why did Everett turn its Flock license plate cameras back on? On April 22, 2026, the City of Everett confirmed it had reactivated its network of 68 Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras after Governor Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 6002 on March 30, 2026. The new state law — the Driver Privacy Act — exempts ALPR footage from the Public Records Act, which had led a Snohomish County judge to rule in February that Everett’s footage was public record and forced the city to pause the network. Most of Everett’s cameras came back online April 7, though a Superior Court hearing on May 14 will test whether the earlier ruling stands.

    What just happened with Everett’s Flock camera network

    On Tuesday, April 22, 2026, the City of Everett confirmed that its network of automated license plate reader cameras operated by Flock Safety has been reactivated. The cameras had been paused since February after a Snohomish County Superior Court judge ruled that Everett’s ALPR footage qualified as a public record under the state Public Records Act.

    According to city officials, Mayor Cassie Franklin directed the Everett Police Department to restart the cameras in early April. Most of the network was back online by April 7, 2026, according to the city. The city filed a motion in Snohomish County Superior Court on April 3 asking the judge to vacate the February ruling in light of a new state law signed just days earlier.

    The state law that changed the picture

    On March 30, 2026, Governor Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 6002, known as the Driver Privacy Act. The law explicitly exempts ALPR footage from Washington’s Public Records Act. That single change reshaped the legal footing for every Washington city operating — or considering — a Flock network.

    SB 6002 also includes new guardrails that apply to every ALPR network in the state. According to the final bill text:

    • Agencies can retain ALPR data for no more than 21 days.
    • ALPR use is limited to specific categories of investigation.
    • Sharing data with federal agencies is prohibited.
    • ALPR collection is restricted near schools and health care facilities.

    The law’s stated purpose is to balance law enforcement access to license plate data with driver privacy — especially for people who might be targeted if their movements became discoverable through a public records request. The ACLU of Washington has objected to the law’s 21-day retention period, calling the provision unacceptable; the organization says the original version of the legislation contemplated a 72-hour retention window.

    What Everett Police say the cameras have done

    Everett launched its Flock network in October 2024 under a two-year, $550,000 grant-funded contract signed in June 2024. The city operates 68 ALPR cameras across Everett.

    According to Everett Police, in the months between the October 2024 launch and the February 2026 pause the cameras were used in more than 250 arrests, along with stolen vehicle recoveries and missing-person locates. The city points to those numbers as the case for bringing the cameras back.

    City spokesperson Simone Tarver addressed the restart directly. “This new state law ensures that we can protect the privacy of residents — including victims of domestic violence, harassment, and stalking — from anyone who may have had the intention of misusing this information,” Tarver said. She added that “the strategic and responsible use of technology remains a priority for the City.”

    How Everett got here: a 6-month timeline

    The Everett Flock story has moved quickly through the courts and the Legislature. Here is the sequence of events, drawn from court filings, city statements, and state records:

    • October 2024: Everett launches 68-camera Flock network.
    • February 2026: A Snohomish County Superior Court judge rules that ALPR footage is public record. Everett pauses its network.
    • March 5, 2026: Everett files an appeal of the public records ruling.
    • March 30, 2026: Governor Ferguson signs SB 6002 (the Driver Privacy Act).
    • Early April 2026: Mayor Franklin directs EPD to reactivate cameras.
    • April 3, 2026: Everett files a motion in Superior Court to vacate the February ruling.
    • April 7, 2026: Most of Everett’s cameras are back online.
    • April 22, 2026: The city publicly confirms the reactivation.
    • May 14, 2026: Hearing scheduled on Everett’s motion to vacate.

    The May 14 hearing is the next legal checkpoint. If the court grants the motion to vacate, the February public-records ruling goes away. If it does not, Everett and Flock opponents will continue to argue in court about what, exactly, SB 6002 does to a case that was filed before the law existed.

    The federal data-sharing question

    One detail from the Flock rollout has drawn separate scrutiny. Public records reviewed by reporters showed that from April to June 2025, federal agencies — including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations — queried Everett’s Flock network. The access was possible because Everett, like many departments on the platform, had Flock’s “nationwide lookup” feature enabled until July 2025.

    EPD spokesperson Natalie Given described the feature. “While national look up feature was enabled, outside agencies would have had the ability to query all networks with the feature enabled en masse, including Everett’s,” Given said.

    Former Everett Police Chief John DeRousse confirmed that Flock’s user agreements restrict use to legitimate law enforcement purposes and prohibit civil immigration enforcement and First Amendment-protected activity. Under SB 6002, sharing ALPR data with federal agencies is now legally prohibited — a shift that formalizes what department policies had already required in many cases.

    Where other Washington cities stand

    Everett is not the only Washington city working through the Flock question. Each city has landed in a different place:

    • Mountlake Terrace canceled its Flock contract in December 2025 before the cameras were even installed, citing community division and public-records concerns.
    • Lynnwood terminated its Flock contract in February 2026, roughly seven months after installation, after resident pushback.
    • Stanwood is appealing a similar public-records ruling and reactivated its network on April 1, 2026.
    • Everett reactivated and is pursuing its motion to vacate, with the May 14 hearing as the next step.

    Those four trajectories — cancel, terminate, reactivate-and-appeal, reactivate-and-move — capture the range of policy responses a Washington city can take in the post-SB 6002 environment.

    What this means for Everett residents

    For most residents, the practical changes under SB 6002 are easy to summarize. ALPR data from Everett’s cameras can now be held for no longer than 21 days before deletion. Federal agencies cannot receive Everett’s data. ALPR collection locations near schools and health care facilities are restricted. Public-records requests for raw footage will be refused under the new exemption.

    What the cameras still do: read license plates as vehicles pass, flag plates against hot lists (stolen vehicles, Amber Alerts, felony warrants), and log timestamps and locations that Everett Police can query during an investigation. That operational picture has not changed. The governance around it has.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Are Everett’s Flock cameras back on?

    Yes. The City of Everett confirmed on April 22, 2026 that the cameras have been reactivated. Most of the 68-camera network was back online by April 7, 2026, after Mayor Cassie Franklin directed the Everett Police Department to restart the network in early April.

    What is SB 6002 and why does it matter?

    Senate Bill 6002, also known as the Driver Privacy Act, was signed by Governor Bob Ferguson on March 30, 2026. It exempts ALPR footage from Washington’s Public Records Act, sets a 21-day retention limit, prohibits sharing data with federal agencies, and restricts ALPR collection near schools and health care facilities.

    Why were Everett’s cameras shut off in February?

    A Snohomish County Superior Court judge ruled in February 2026 that Everett’s ALPR footage was a public record under the state Public Records Act. The city paused the network in response to the ruling while it evaluated its legal options.

    How many Flock cameras does Everett operate?

    Everett operates 68 Flock ALPR cameras across the city under a two-year, $550,000 grant-funded contract that was signed in June 2024.

    Can federal immigration agencies access Everett’s ALPR data?

    Under SB 6002, data sharing with federal agencies is now prohibited. Records show that federal agencies queried Everett’s network between April and June 2025 using Flock’s “nationwide lookup” feature, which Everett kept enabled until July 2025. That access is no longer permitted under state law.

    What happens at the May 14 court hearing?

    Snohomish County Superior Court is scheduled to hear Everett’s motion to vacate the February 2026 public-records ruling in light of SB 6002. If the motion is granted, the February ruling goes away. If not, litigation continues.

    How long can Everett Police keep ALPR data under the new law?

    SB 6002 caps retention of ALPR data at 21 days. The ACLU of Washington has said this window is too long and that the original version of the legislation called for 72 hours.

    Have any Washington cities walked away from Flock?

    Yes. Mountlake Terrace canceled its contract in December 2025 before installation. Lynnwood terminated its contract in February 2026. Stanwood and Everett have both reactivated their networks under SB 6002 but are still working through prior legal challenges.

  • Everett’s New Police Chief Has a Plan — Here’s What’s Changing at EPD

    Everett’s New Police Chief Has a Plan — Here’s What’s Changing at EPD

    When Robert Goetz was sworn in as Everett’s new police chief on January 7, 2026, he brought with him something that not every new top cop carries through the door: 35 years of institutional memory about the community he now leads. He rose through nearly every operational and administrative rank inside the Everett Police Department before Mayor Cassie Franklin appointed him to succeed retiring Chief John DeRousse. And from day one, Goetz has been clear about what he wants the department to look like — more embedded in the community, smarter about technology, and leaner on vacancies.

    The early indicators suggest the strategy is working. Crime rates across Everett continued a multi-year downward trend through 2025, with violent crime dropping by more than 30 percent and vehicle thefts falling 70 percent compared to the prior year, according to data cited by Mayor Franklin at the 2026 State of the City address. Meanwhile, the department’s drone program — launched in October 2025 — is already clearing calls without dispatching a single officer. Here’s a closer look at what’s changing at EPD and what it means for residents.

    A New Chief With Deep Everett Roots

    Robert Goetz isn’t new to Everett. He spent more than three decades with the department before Mayor Franklin tapped him for the top job in late 2025. He has worked in virtually every corner of the organization — patrol, specialty units, and administrative leadership — which means he arrived as chief without needing a long orientation period.

    In a Q&A with the Everett Post shortly after his swearing-in, Goetz described his approach: a community-oriented department that meets people where they are, not just when someone calls 911. That means officers showing up at community events, parks during summer months, and neighborhood gatherings — building relationships before a crime ever happens.

    It’s a meaningful shift in emphasis for a department that, like many mid-sized city police forces, has faced pressure to do more with constrained staffing. The Lynnwood Times, covering Goetz’s appointment in January 2026, described his philosophy as centered on a department that is “embedded in its community” and “meets youth where they are.”

    Staffing: Getting Vacancies Into Single Digits

    One of Goetz’s most concrete short-term goals is staffing. When he took over, the department carried about 13 to 14 open positions. His stated target for 2026: get that number into single digits.

    It’s not just a headcount goal. Fewer vacancies means more officers available for community engagement assignments, specialty units, and the kind of proactive policing that Goetz has prioritized. The department also recently promoted eight people to Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, and Deputy Chief — a round of promotions that signals both organizational investment and career pathway development for officers already in the ranks.

    For residents, this matters practically: more officers means more coverage across Everett’s neighborhoods and a department better positioned to sustain programs like the Violent Crime Reduction Unit, which Mayor Franklin credited with driving down violent crime numbers since its 2023 launch.

    The Drone Program: Flying to Calls Before Cars Can Get There

    Perhaps the most visible operational change under EPD’s new direction is the Drone as First Responder program, which launched in October 2025 after the Everett City Council approved a $507,000 contract with Flock Safety in April 2025.

    The concept is straightforward: when a 911 call comes in, a drone can launch immediately from one of four precinct locations — two at the north precinct, two at the south precinct — and fly over traffic at roughly 50 miles per hour, reaching scenes in about 90 seconds. A patrol car navigating Everett streets in traffic might take four minutes for the same distance. The drone arrives first, gives officers a live visual of the scene, and in some cases resolves the situation entirely without a patrol unit ever leaving the lot.

    Since the program launched in October, the results have been measurable. According to EPD’s public drone flight dashboard, 87 calls were cleared without dispatching a patrol resource at all. In total, the drones have helped locate nearly 200 people across various incident types. The department is now expanding the program to add drones at a central Everett location — on top of a local business — which will improve coverage across the city’s core neighborhoods.

    The Flock Safety contract also includes Flock 911, which streams live 911 call transcripts to patrol officers and drone pilots simultaneously, improving situational awareness before anyone arrives on scene.

    What the Crime Numbers Actually Say

    Crime statistics require careful reading, and Goetz has been measured in how he talks about them. The headline figures are genuinely positive: overall crime in Everett trended down across 2025, with violent crime on pace to hit its lowest rate in seven years, according to EPD’s report to the City’s Community Health and Safety Committee in July 2025. Vehicle thefts dropped 70 percent — a dramatic reversal of a trend that had frustrated residents and businesses for years.

    Mayor Franklin highlighted these numbers in her March 5, 2026 State of the City address, noting that crime overall decreased more than 20 percent from 2024 to 2025.

    Department leadership credits several overlapping efforts: the Violent Crime Reduction Unit, a graffiti paint-over initiative launched in 2025, community-oriented patrol assignments, and increasingly effective use of technology including the Flock camera network (the City Council extended the Flock camera contract alongside the drone program approval in April 2025).

    One important note for context: Everett’s crime rate remains above national averages on some measures. The downward trend is meaningful, but it reflects progress on a baseline that still has room to improve. Goetz has acknowledged this framing — the goal isn’t just to celebrate declining numbers, but to sustain and accelerate the trend through the community-first model he’s building.

    Youth Violence: Prevention First, Enforcement Last

    One area where Goetz has been especially vocal is youth. His stated approach — prevention first, intervention where possible, and enforcement as a last resort — puts youth violence reduction at the center of EPD’s strategic direction. This aligns with a framework Mayor Franklin has emphasized across multiple budget cycles.

    In practice, the prevention model means officers assigned to youth engagement, department relationships with schools, and outreach programs designed to build trust between young Everett residents and law enforcement before any conflict arises. The idea is that a different kind of public safety ecosystem emerges when relationships are built early — one that doesn’t rely solely on reactive policing.

    What Residents Should Watch For in 2026

    Based on Chief Goetz’s stated priorities and the department’s current trajectory, here are the key indicators residents can track to assess EPD’s progress this year.

    • Vacancy count: Is EPD hitting its goal of single-digit open positions? The department publishes staffing data on its Community Transparency Dashboard at everettwa.gov.
    • Drone program expansion: The planned addition of central Everett drones should be operational in 2026. EPD’s public drone flight dashboard tracks call clearance data in real time.
    • Violent crime trends: Sustaining and deepening the 2025 crime reduction gains through 2026 will be the real test of the current strategy.
    • Youth programs: Any new partnerships, school programs, or community engagement initiatives Goetz announces will signal how the prevention-first philosophy is being operationalized.
    • City Council oversight: The Council’s Community Health and Safety Committee continues to receive regular EPD briefings. Agendas are posted at everettwa.gov/AgendaCenter.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Who is the new Everett Police Chief?

    Robert Goetz was sworn in as Everett’s Chief of Police on January 7, 2026. He was appointed by Mayor Cassie Franklin and brings more than 35 years of service with the Everett Police Department.

    What happened to former Chief John DeRousse?

    Chief John DeRousse retired at the end of 2025 after leading EPD. Mayor Franklin appointed Deputy Chief Robert Goetz as his successor.

    How does Everett’s Drone as First Responder program work?

    When a 911 call is received, a drone launches from one of EPD’s precinct locations and reaches a scene in approximately 90 seconds — significantly faster than a patrol car. The drones provide live video of the scene and in some cases resolve calls without dispatching an officer at all. EPD’s drone flight data is publicly available on its transparency dashboard.

    Is crime going down in Everett?

    Yes. Everett reported a more than 20 percent overall crime reduction from 2024 to 2025, and violent crime was on pace to reach its lowest rate in seven years. Vehicle thefts dropped 70 percent. Everett’s overall crime rate remains above national averages, but the downward trend has been sustained over multiple years.

    How many officers does the Everett Police Department have?

    EPD had approximately 13 to 14 vacancies when Chief Goetz took over in January 2026. His goal is to reduce that number to single digits by end of year. Current staffing data is available on EPD’s Community Transparency Dashboard at everettwa.gov.

    Where can I follow EPD’s public data?

    The City of Everett maintains a Community Transparency Dashboard at everettwa.gov/2862/Community-Transparency-Dashboard with data on crime, calls for service, and drone deployments.

    Sources: Everett Post Q&A with Chief Goetz (January 2026); Lynnwood Times Chief Goetz profile (January 13, 2026); HeraldNet “Behind the Badge” (2026); Mayor Franklin 2026 State of the City address (March 5, 2026); HeraldNet “Everett’s Drone as First Responder program underway” (March 14, 2026); EPD Community Transparency Dashboard; City of Everett official website (everettwa.gov).