“Lakewood Washington - Zero Homicides in 2025 - History Made” - lpd

While most were celebrating the start of the new year, the City of Lakewood was celebrating something different.  The Lakewood Police Department made history in 2025 with zero homicides the entire year.  The last tragic homicide occurred on 12/22/24 and we are fortunate to report none since that time.  We hope to continue the homicide free momentum into 2026.  We’ve made a number of adjustments to maintain a safer city, which includes the onboard of new technology, adjustments to officer work hours, adding full time business district patrols, more drones available for patrol squads, daily crime stats and weekly crime activity reports to the community and allowing officers the latitude to follow up on crimes immediately, in addition to having good officers.  What is most important is the partnerships with the Lakewood community. 

To our citizens;
As we celebrate 2026, we want to take a moment to thank our Lakewood community.  Thank you for supporting the Lakewood Police Department.  Thank you for trusting us to help keep our city safe.  And thank you for allowing us to serve you every day—from routine questions, calls for service, to animal control, and during some to life’s most important and difficult moments.  With the support of our Lakewood community, we reached a major milestone in 2025 worth celebrating; Lakewood has experienced zero homicides for more than a year.  We believe our crime trends are moving in the right direction-down, because your safety is paramount to us.  In 2026, we look forward to continuing to strengthen core partnerships with the community to bring you the best quality service a department can provide.

Happy 2026 

All the best,

Patrick D. Smith

Chief of Police | Lakewood Police Department