Overview
District 5 is situated in southwestern Washington with headquarters in Vancouver. The district provides service in Clark, Cowlitz, Klickitat, Lewis, and Skamania counties. These consist of approximately 9,666 square miles of land, which includes two Interstate Highways and 27 State Routes. On these highways, the field units cover a total of 762 miles.
Detachments are located in Chehalis, Goldendale, Kelso, Morton, and Vancouver. There are approximately 172 employees assigned to law enforcement, traffic investigations, license fraud, narcotics investigations, vehicle inspections, communications, and support services. A crime laboratory is also located within district confines.
Key Measurements and Statistics
Successes of 2020
For the fifth straight year, our total collisions continue to decline in southwest Washington. Since 2016, our total collisions are down 24 percent, and we experienced the lowest number of collisions occurring on our state routes and interstate highways in southwest Washington over the last five years. Fatality collisions are down 29 percent from the previous year and are the lowest they have been in five years.
District 5 features the only License Investigation Unit (LIU) in the Washington State Patrol that consists of commissioned personnel, administrative support staff, and volunteers who are primarily focused on ensuring Washington residents are compliant with vehicle licensing laws in our state. In fiscal year 2020, the LIU team in partnership with Department of Revenue (DOR) recovered an estimated $419,504 in lost revenue through Department of Licensing fees and DOR referrals.
District 5 has experienced success amongst the ongoing strife of the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of teleworking for clerical staff members and utilization of virtual meeting resources to keep employees safe.