Battle Ground Police Chief Dennis Flynn says while major crimes are down, adding additional officers is necessary to ensure consistent patrol.
Flynn presented the department’s 2024 annual report and outlined goals for 2025 during a Monday, April 7, Battle Ground City Council meeting. He noted a drop in major crime while stressing the need for five additional officers to meet growing public safety demands.
Crimes and reports analysis
Property crime in the city decreased by 9.4% from 2023 to 2024. Residential burglaries fell 46%, with just six reported last year. Auto thefts dropped nearly 70%, with 18 cases in 2024.
“All of our major crime categories are down,” Flynn said.
Not all trends were positive. Crimes against people increased 18.7%, rising from 182 to 216. Among the reports, sex crimes involving juvenile victims doubled from 10 to 20. Reports of harassment spiked from seven to 35.
Fraud cases jumped 66%, from 41 to 68, with most victims being older residents.
“These are mostly older folks in our community that have been victimized,” Flynn said, referencing the rise in fraud. “This is something that you’re seeing nationwide.”
Felony assault, however, declined sharply by 57%, with six cases reported last year.
Changes in 2024
The department rolled out several new tools in 2024, including eight new patrol vehicles, body-worn cameras, updated tasers, a peer support program and Rafferty the comfort dog.
Flynn highlighted Axon’s body-worn cameras as an improvement in transparency, noting the camera’s activation requirements. An officer’s body-worn camera activates as soon as a gun or taser is pulled from its holster.
New tasers also mark a significant improvement in non-lethal force tools, reducing the electrical charge from 50,000 volts to 1,000. The Axon Taser 10 can deploy up to 10 individual darts, with up to three being activated at a time. It prioritizes darts that hit vital areas, providing officers with more options if the initial deployment fails due to obstacles such as baggy clothing.
“We’re reducing a lot of our risks,” Flynn said. “When we have to use less lethal force, this gives the officers time to get in there.”
The department also debuted a peer support team for its officers, including a clinician, to enhance the mental wellness of officers. The program offers trained peer support team members who can provide emotional and practical support for agency members.
Goals for 2025
Looking ahead, Flynn said the department’s main staffing goal is to hire five new officers, which would require the city council’s approval. Flynn seeks to assign one more officer to each patrol squad and to the task force, noting the rise in drug cases as a cause for concern.
“We were averaging two or three fentanyl-based cases per year. Right now, we’re at 26,” Flynn said.
He noted that staffing hasn’t kept pace with the city’s growth. While the city population has increased by over 25% in the last 12 years, the police department has added just one officer in that time. Officer staffing rose from 27 to 28 from 2012 to 2024. This places the department’s staffing far below the national average of 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents.
“Right now, we’re at 1.25 officers per 1,000 residents,” Flynn said. “We’re below anywhere that we need to be.”
Some squads operate with only two officers and a sergeant, which limits coverage during high-call periods or if someone is sick or on leave, according to Flynn.
“If they’re tied up on an accident, that’s it,” he said. “There’s no more officers in the rest of the city.”
Hiring more officers will take time. Flynn noted it typically takes 12 months from posting the job to seeing an officer ready for duty. The department is also pursuing reaccreditation through the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Department staff will review its performance ahead of 2026, when reaccreditation opens.
“When you’re accredited through the state … that’s the state of Washington saying you guys have provided proof to 146 different best cases,” Flynn said. “It shows professionalism not only to our officers but certainly to the public that we serve.”
Council members asked about the benefits of accreditation and whether it can support seeking grants for recruitment. Flynn stated that while reaccreditation does not directly support grant funding, it could attract officers for recruitment.
“I think also what we’ve been doing for 2024 and now continuing in 2025, I think that is a bigger chance for our recruitment,” Flynn said. “We have employees that enjoy coming to work … and they’re doing a damn good job doing it.”
Traffic analysis
One of the department’s top goals for 2025 is improving how it uses data to guide traffic enforcement and public safety responses. Flynn said traffic engagement remains one of the most common concerns brought up by residents — whether at town halls, through direct complaints or during council meetings.
“Traffic engagement is probably the biggest issue that is brought to our attention,” Flynn said.
But rather than react solely to individual complaints, Flynn stressed the importance of using broader traffic data to make more effective decisions.
“Yes, we do monitor every one of the complaints that come in,” he said. “But those can be one-offs. Just because one person sent in a complaint doesn’t always mean that’s where I need to devote all the resources. What does our data say?”
Flynn pointed to one recent fatal accident, in Jaunary on Main Street, which sparked an internal review of crash patterns. The department used a 12-month snapshot of all reported traffic accidents to identify problem areas, then directed enforcement there.
“In eight days, that’s what they produced,” Flynn said, referencing a map of dozens of traffic stops made in response to the data. “We’re certainly in the right area. Does that mean we’ve achieved it? Nope. But we’re certainly going in the right direction.”
