Overview
District 8 provides services to Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap, Mason, Pacific, and Wahkiakum counties. There are five military installations throughout the district as well as four Washington State Ferry terminals. Detachment offices are located in Bremerton, Hoquiam, Port Angeles, Naselle, and Shelton with an outpost office to serve our Forks community. Home to the world’s largest floating bridge, District 8 also includes the Olympic National Park, ocean beaches, rainforests, glacier and snowcapped peaks.
Providing an assortment of law enforcement services with more than 130 employees, District 8 services nearly 3,000 miles of state routes. Putting the right resource in the right place at the right time, the district uses highly trained collision investigators, narcotics K9 detection, SWAT and crisis negotiators, aggressive driver apprehension team, motorcycle trained troopers, and rapid deployment force trained troopers to ensure the districts 600,000 citizens have a safe highway to travel.
Key Measurements and Statistics
District 8 management balanced the employee safety concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, while still providing for a safe community through traffic law enforcement. During the early stages of the pandemic, employees were encouraged to remain visible, take action and intervene on dangerous driving or criminal activity, while educating and engaging the community for observance of the Governor’s COVID-19 directions. Traffic volumes were notably lower throughout the district, with noteworthy population reductions in our seasonal and tourist based Pacific Ocean communities.
Successes of 2020
District 8 continued to realize a reduction in impaired driver causing collisions and a four-year decline in speed related injury, serious injury, and fatality collisions because of speed. While statistically COVID-19 struck all of our Washington communities and our employees throughout the state in high numbers, the district only realized two confirmed employee cases. Lastly, in 2020 we recognized several troopers for their life-saving efforts in Kitsap County. They intentionally intervened with their patrol vehicles on separate situations, stopping the wrong-way impaired drivers and likely saving a life or lives.
Additional Information and Resources
District 8 could not accomplish the Washington State Patrol mission without the partnerships of our local sheriffs and police chiefs, the corporation with the state’s Department of Transportation, and our community relations amongst our many diverse community groups.
For more information and events within District 8, you can find us on Twitter at @Wspd8pio or on Instagram at Wastatepatrol_D8.