Washington State Patrol

When the highest ranking African American woman in the Washington State Patrol abruptly retired in August, she was lauded as a “trailblazer” who had risen to become the first black woman sergeant, lieutenant and captain in the history of the nearly 100-year-old agency.

From campaign appearances in Iowa and Philadelphia to debate stages in Miami and Detroit, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has been hopscotching the nation as a longshot Democratic candidate for president, focused on climate change.

In the span of just a few years, the Washington State Patrol has built up a fleet of more than 100 drones. At last check, the Oregon State Police had three. The Washington patrol says its small quadcopters are used for crash investigations, not for surveillance.

Washington state Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, still remembers the day in 2014 that she toured a police evidence facility and saw stacks of white boxes on the shelves. She asked what they were and the answer shocked her. They were untested rape kits.

To keep up with Gov. Jay Inslee as he campaigns around the country for president, the Washington State Patrol is preparing to nearly double the size and more than double the budget of the specialty unit that protects him.  

Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib, who is blind and has faced vitriol online, is requesting funding in the next two-year state budget to hire security when he attends large, public events. The request is contained in an agency "decision package" submitted by Habib's office to the Office of Financial Management as part of the lead-up to the budget writing process.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's busy out-of-state travel schedule has put a strain on the state troopers who protect him and resulted in a spike in overtime costs. As a result, the Washington State Patrol has requested an additional $1.3 million to protect the governor and first lady over the next two years.

A Washington state trooper has accused a leader in the State Patrol’s aviation unit of ordering staff to illegally delete public records and lying to the Governor’s Office about the availability of planes.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law Thursday a bill aimed at shedding light on the cases of missing or murdered Native American women. 
 At the bill signing ceremony, Native women in traditional regalia performed a women’s honor song.

Marijuana may be legal in Washington and Oregon, but police continue to bust illegal marijuana operations that are not licensed by the state.

The latest numbers from the Washington State Patrol show that 89 illegal marijuana growing operations were shut down in Washington over the past year. Some were indoor grows, most were outdoor.

The Washington State Patrol has agreed to a $15 million settlement in a class action lawsuit over the hiring and promotion of military veterans. The case involves troopers and trooper applicants who did not receive preference points for their service in the military as mandated by state law.

The Washington State Patrol has put another dent in its trooper shortage. Forty-nine new troopers were sworn-in Wednesday at a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda.

Among the troopers in formation was Robert Reyer of Salzburg, Austria. 



If you’ve ever seen the movie Con Air, you know that high-risk prison inmates are sometimes moved around the country on charter flights. It turns out the state of Washington has its own version of Con Air.

When a convicted felon, domestic abuser or fugitive tries to buy a gun in Oregon and is denied after a background check, a state trooper comes calling. Sometimes it leads to an arrest and prosecution.

But when this happens in Washington, it’s a different story.

The Washington State Patrol is cracking down on drunk drivers for the holidays.

The Washington State Patrol owns a small fleet of planes that state agencies and officials can charter. On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 8, two Washington state troopers piloted a twin engine King Air from Olympia to Vancouver, British Columbia.

When you sink $40 million into a state-of-the art digital two-way radio system, you don’t expect to hear complaints. But delays, dead air and garbled transmissions have bedeviled a new Washington State Patrol radio system.

Thirty-seven new Washington State Patrol troopers graduated Wednesday during a ceremony at the state Capitol in Olympia. But they’re only making a dent in a big trooper shortage.

The recent police shootings of African-American men in Louisiana and Minnesota have reignited the debate over use of deadly force. That was on the mind of a black community leader in Washington state as she strapped on a gun belt and took aim inside a state-of-the-art training simulator for police.

At the Washington State Patrol Academy in Shelton, Corporal Lori Hinds guides a pair of visitors into what looks like a walk-in video game. Inside five, large video screens form a 300-degree computer-generated environment.

Police agencies in Washington state would not be allowed to rate officers by how many traffic tickets they hand out under a proposal put forward by a former Spokane police officer.

The Washington State Patrol is reminding drivers to move over -- or at least slow down -- when approaching an emergency vehicle that’s stopped with its lights flashing. The Patrol will begin a three-day crackdown Tuesday on drivers who don’t give troopers some space.

The Washington State Patrol is recruiting. But in this case it’s not for troopers. It’s for military veterans who applied to be troopers and weren’t hired.

Consultants leading a study on why dozens of troopers have recently left the Washington State Patrol warned Thursday that the agency is in “dire straits.”

The Washington State Patrol said security at the governor’s mansion in Olympia has been improved in the wake of two breaches.

A security breach at the Washington governor’s mansion on August 7, 2013 was more serious than first reported. Records obtained from the Washington State Patrol reveal the trespasser broke a window before he was arrested at gunpoint.

The perimeter surrounding Washington’s governor’s mansion has been breached twice by trespassers since 2013. The incidents were not publicized at the time.

The Washington State Patrol is responsible for guarding the governor and his wife. But audio recordings obtained through public records reveal the Patrol’s Executive Protection Unit is also concerned about protecting the governor politically -- at least when it comes to driving him in a gas-guzzling SUV.