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Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Shoreline police report fewer calls and faster responses

By Oliver J Moffat

Residents called Shoreline police less, and the police responded faster to 911 calls, cut more traffic tickets, and closed more cases. 

The Sheriff contract keeps costs low, said the 2025 Shoreline police services report reviewed by the city council at the April 13 meeting.

The average number of dispatch calls for service (DCFS) per patrol officer has declined each year, down from 456 in 2019, reaching 368 calls per officer in 2025, said the report.  

Shoreline residents have been calling the police less often. The police received 16,567 calls in 2018, but that number fell to 13,971 in 2025. Despite vacancies, the average number of dispatch calls per patrol officer declined from 456 in 2019 to 368 calls per officer in 2025, said the report.  

Average response times to the highest priority 911 calls continued to improve, dropping from 6.21 minutes in 2023 to 4.24 minutes in 2025, according to the report.  

With fewer calls, average police response times to the highest priority 911 calls continued to improve, according to the 2025 report, despite staffing shortages.

Like other cities, Shoreline continues to struggle with police staffing, ending 2025 again with 9 commissioned vacancies, an improvement from 13 vacancies in 2022 after pandemic-era mass resignations.

The police department closed more cases last year: 1,126 cases closed in 2025, up from 665 in 2020, according to the police report. Police also issued more traffic tickets (1,261 in 2025).

Working alongside police officers, the Region Crisis Response (RCR) agency provided de-escalation and behavioral health services for 562 people in crisis in Shoreline during 1,122 encounters.

According to the police report, the city’s contact with the King County Sheriff keeps costs down through "economies of scale” and “has been an effective way to provide quality law enforcement services and contain costs.” 

The police report said Shoreline’s per capita KCSO contact cost was $252 in 2024 and $264 in 2025.

Read more about the police report on The Interurban Canopy.


1 comment:

  1. So police calls/responses went down in our neighborhood for sure when a problematic neighbor moved out. Sadly I don't think responses ended - they just moved to a different area and became someone else's statistic.

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