Why This Measure Matters

Tracking police officer training hours is essential for ensuring competence, accountability, and continuous improvement in law enforcement. It supports resource allocation, career development, mental health initiatives, and evaluation of training effectiveness—all of which contribute to a safer, more professional police force. Washington State requires a minimum 24 hours of in-service training per officer, per year. OPD officer training hours data is shown as the total number of personnel hours invested annually in training and includes both in-service and external trainings. .

 

What’s the Story?

In 2025 the department invested 7,487.25 personnel hours in officer training. This includes both in-service and external training. Though the total number of hours per year fluctuates, the average number of training hours per commissioned officer has remained relatively steady. For example, in 2024 the department invested 7,278 personnel hours in officer training for 71 officers, averaging 102.51 hours per officer. In 2025 staffing levels increased slightly to 77 commissioned officers, for an average of 97.2 hours of training per officer. Training continues to be a priority for the department.

 

Target

The City is tracking this metric over time to understand how it fluctuates.

 

Reporting frequency

Annual