How many active state police are there in the state of washington
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Executive summary
A direct, verifiable count of “how many active state police are there in the state of Washington” is not present in the provided reporting; none of the supplied sources state an exact current number of commissioned Washington State Patrol troopers or a single statewide tally labeled “active state police” [1] [2] [3]. The available material does, however, clarify the broader staffing context — Washington ranks at or near the bottom nationally on officers-per-capita metrics and state and association data describe an ongoing shortfall that frames any question about active policing levels [4] [5] [6].
1. What the sources do — and do not — answer about “active state police” numbers
The Washington State Patrol’s official site exists as the authoritative agency portal but the snippet provided does not include a current trooper headcount, and the Washington State Patrol Wikipedia page included in the reporting gives organizational background without a clear, present-day number of active troopers [1] [2]. The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) offers comprehensive data tools (CJIS statistics) and publishes statewide staffing analyses, but the material supplied here points to those resources without quoting a single-updated figure for the number of active state police officers specifically [7] [3].
2. Broader staffing context that affects interpretation
Multiple sources in the packet make a consistent point: Washington has a low ratio of sworn officers relative to population, and lawmakers and law‑enforcement groups have highlighted recruitment and retention problems that affect “active” staffing levels everywhere in the state [4] [5] [6]. WASPC figures cited in reporting put Washington at about 1.12 officers per 1,000 residents — the lowest in the nation by that measure — a metric that aggregates sheriffs’, municipal and state officers rather than isolating State Patrol troopers, so it cannot directly answer the trooper count question but does show why trooper numbers are a live policy issue [4].
3. Older and related tallies that are not definitive for the present question
A Wikipedia list of law enforcement agencies cites a 2008 Bureau of Justice Statistics Census figure (11,411 sworn officers in the state) which is useful historical context but not a current count of State Patrol troopers or active state police today [8]. Other reporting highlights specific departments (for example, Seattle Police staffing figures) that help frame local shortages but do not equate to a statewide State Patrol headcount [4] [9].
4. Why a precise answer matters and where to look for it
A precise, authoritative answer requires either a current publicly published headcount from the Washington State Patrol (WSP) itself or a consolidated CJIS/reporting table from WASPC that breaks out State Patrol sworn personnel; the WSP website and WASPC’s CJIS statistics page are the two explicit sources referenced in the reporting that would most likely supply a definitive “active troopers” number if consulted directly [1] [3]. Absent an explicit figure in the provided material, asserting a number would be speculation beyond what these sources deliver.
5. Bottom line for the question asked
The provided reporting does not contain a precise, up‑to‑date count of active state police (Washington State Patrol troopers) and therefore cannot answer the user’s question with a single authoritative number; available sources instead document chronic understaffing trends and point readers to the Washington State Patrol and WASPC CJIS data as the primary places to obtain an official, current headcount [1] [7] [3] [4].