By Shea Johnson
Source The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore submitted a letter of resignation on Tuesday, ending an uneven three-year stint as the city’s top law enforcement official.
Moore, who’s resignation will be effective Monday, told City Manager Elizabeth Pauli that he would be retiring.
“After 35 incredible years in law enforcement, I have made the heartfelt decision to step away from this noble profession and transition into the next chapter of my life,” Moore said in his letter, which was released by the city. “Reflecting on my journey, I take immense pride in an illustrious career that has spanned decades of dedicated service, leadership, and unwavering commitment to justice. The past three years in Tacoma have been particularly rewarding. It has been both an honor and a privilege to serve this vibrant city and its extraordinary residents as your Chief of Police.”
City spokesperson Maria Lee said that Pauli, who’s retiring effective July 1, would appoint an interim chief while a search is conducted for someone to succeed Moore. Deputy Chief Paul Junger is the current acting chief, according to Lee.
“The news of Chief Moore’s resignation today was a difficult one,” Mayor Victoria Woodards told The News Tribune in a statement. “I had the opportunity to confirm the Chief, and to work closely with the Chief, and I think Tacoma is a better place because he chose to work here.”
Moore was 55 years old when the Tacoma City Council unanimously appointed him to be the chief in December 2021. He started the job the following month, officially replacing Don Ramsdell who retired.
Moore arrived from the Dallas Police Department, where he was the assistant chief for its investigations bureau. He cast himself as “a change agent” and said he would champion community policing, boosting officer morale, ensuring the department reflected the people it served and implementing a crisis-response team for mental health and homelessness-related calls.
His tenure in Tacoma was a bumpy one. He received credit for creating a plan to address violent crime in the city but ran afoul of rank-and-file members of the police union and recently was investigated for his use of a city-issued phone while on a family vacation in Sweden.
The union’s president didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Moore’s resignation.
Moore was placed on paid administrative leave in September after he accumulated more than $1,000 in international charges in July on the nearly week-long vacation. He returned shortly after and received verbal counseling from Pauli, who said Moore hadn’t met the expected standards of professional judgment.
A third-party investigation concluded that Moore, whose phone charges were attributed to using GPS for navigation, hadn’t deliberately misled city officials about his knowledge of the bill, which he repaid.
Moore’s major initiative, in partnership with the University of Texas in San Antonio, was the Violent Crime Reduction Plan — a phased effort that focused on reducing so-called hot spots of violent crime in the city.
The plan was launched in July 2022, a year in which Tacoma saw 45 homicides, its highest tally in decades. Homicides have decreased in consecutive years since then, down to 22 last year.
That figure remained higher than Tacoma’s average of 18 per year, according to the city’s website, which noted that the number can dramatically fluctuate.
“During my time in Tacoma, I focused on key goals that were close to my heart: reducing overall crime, fostering trust and legitimacy within the community, and strengthening engagement with the people we are sworn to serve and protect,” Moore said in his resignation letter. “Together, we achieved meaningful progress, and I am deeply grateful for the collaboration and support of this remarkable community.”
Moore thanked TPD members for their “unwavering dedication and professionalism” and the residents of Tacoma for the trust that they placed in him.
“Thank you, Tacoma, for allowing me to be a part of your journey,” he said. “It has been an honor beyond measure.”
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