In its fifth report in a series about what appears to be a “mass migration” of West Coast citizens to Idaho, Fox News is looking at the flight of police officers from Washington, Oregon and especially California to the Gem State, where lawmen and women are respected rather than disdained.
As noted in the report, “Seattle’s police staffing is at its lowest level since the 1990s.” According to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, in 2022, “The total number of commissioned officers statewide was 10,666, down from 10,736 in 2021, while the total population of the state increased by 93,262. Washington again is ranked 51st out of the 50 states and District of Columbia for the number of officers per thousand residents. Reported cases of officers assaulted was 2,375 in 2022, an increase of 20.7 percent.” While many of those officers simply did lateral transfers to other agencies in the state, others have left Washington entirely.
As noted by Fox News, “The Gem State has become a popular moving destination for both retired and active-duty police officers, a trend (Seth) Horst and Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell broadly attribute to a more positive climate.”
Horst was identified as a former California Highway Patrolman who now operates a real estate business in the Idaho Panhandle.
In March, Seattle’s KING—the local NBC affiliate—reported, “The Seattle Police Department has lost more than 700 officers in the past five years and is at its lowest staffing level since the 1990s. Currently, the department has 913 actively working police officers.”
The decline in police manpower may be one reason for April’s spike in active Washington concealed pistol licenses, from 691,107 on April 1 to 695,321 on May 1, according to the state Department of Licensing. Washington CPL numbers have been hovering below the 700,000 threshold for the past few years.
The migration isn’t just from the Evergreen State. A December report in the Los Angeles Times cited by Fox News said there has been an exodus of California public employees to Idaho. Residents in the Gem State are concerned these are “bringing their politics with them,” a reference to the Golden State’s hard left Democrat policies and politicians. In Idaho, many residents are now using the term “Californication,” same as did Washington natives back in the 1970s.
And it’s not just peace officers fleeing to Idaho. As reported earlier this month at AMMOLAND News, many Washington residents are leaving the state because of the political climate, which has become unfriendly to gun owners.
But what about the people left behind? Residents stuck in the coastal states still must deal with far left-tilting politics and politicians. In Washington, a conservative resurgence is underway, with several citizen initiatives on the fall ballot aimed at rolling back may of the policies pushed by retiring far-left Gov. Jay Inslee. Democrats are quietly concerned because these ballot measures could translate to a much higher conservative voter turnout in November. Add to that the presence of a viable Republican gubernatorial candidate, former Congressman and Sheriff Dave Reichert, likely to face off against Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and it could mean the Evergreen State is due for a political earthquake this fall.
