stray rain

Washington’s new $100 million police hiring program just awarded its first grants. Olympia is among nine departments that applied. The city’s 2026 budget explicitly spared police from the cuts hitting every other department — HR, IT, finance all took hits, but public safety was untouchable. Now the city’s looking for state money to add officers it can’t fund locally. The grant program exists because Washington ranks last nationally in police staffing per capita. The budget that protects police while cutting everything else tells you what Olympia prioritizes.