Pierce County
946,288 people, served by 22 police agencies that report to the FBI.
How a case moves here
Pierce County follows Washington law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.
- Who decides release first
A judge or court commissioner sets release at the preliminary appearance. Before that, a district or municipal court may adopt its own bail schedule that the jail applies; adopting one is optional and court by court.
CrRLJ 3.2CrR 3.2.1RCW 10.99.045RCW 3.42.010- Time to see a judge
A judge must decide probable cause within 48 hours of an arrest, counting weekends and holidays. The person must then appear before the court by the close of business on the next court day.
CrR 3.2.1(a), (c), (d)- Money bail
Court rules presume release on personal recognizance except in capital cases. A court may require a bond only after finding a likely failure to appear or a danger, must use the least restrictive conditions, and must consider the person's financial resources when setting a bond.
CrR 3.2- Courts
Each county has a superior court, which tries felonies. District courts hear misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors and can hold felony preliminary hearings, and municipal courts hear cases under city ordinances.
RCW 2.08.060RCW 3.66.060RCW 35.20.030- Judges and magistrates
Voters elect superior court judges on a nonpartisan ballot to four-year terms. District judges are also elected for four years and must be lawyers, except in districts under 5,000 people where a lay candidate passed the qualifying exam by 2003. Mayors appoint municipal judges for four-year terms unless the city makes the job elective.
RCW 2.08.060, 2.08.070RCW 29A.52.231RCW 3.34.060RCW 3.50.040, 3.50.050
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. The pretrial section rests on a secondary summary. Which counties use commissioners for preliminary appearances was not checked.
What this county does differently
- Pretrial practice
Advancing Pretrial lists it as a Public Safety Assessment site since 2022.
Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research, PSA sites list (page modified 2026-06-03)
Cities and towns
- Tacoma222,758
- Auburn85,676
- Lakewood62,937
- Puyallup42,746
- University Place34,911
- Bonney Lake22,090
- Edgewood13,032
- Enumclaw12,798
- Gig Harbor12,424
- Fife10,949
- Sumner10,733
- DuPont9,931
- Orting8,978
- Milton8,894
- Fircrest7,069
- Pacific7,066
- Steilacoom town6,686
- Buckley5,371
- Eatonville town2,850
- Ruston1,245
- Roy735
- Carbonado town704
- Wilkeson town552
- South Prairie town309
Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Pierce County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.
Police agencies
- Pierce County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police442,612 served
- Tacoma Police DepartmentCity police department230,369 served
- Auburn Police DepartmentCity police department85,137 served
- Lakewood Police DepartmentCity police department62,485 served
- Puyallup Police DepartmentCity police department42,432 served
- University Place Police DepartmentCity police department35,225 served
- Bonney Lake Police DepartmentCity police department22,175 served
- Edgewood Police DepartmentCity police department13,779 served
- Gig Harbor Police DepartmentCity police department12,786 served
- Fife Police DepartmentCity police department11,082 served
- Sumner Police DepartmentCity police department10,942 served
- Dupont Police DepartmentCity police department9,752 served
- Orting Police DepartmentCity police department8,876 served
- Milton Police DepartmentCity police department8,866 served
- Pacific Police DepartmentCity police department7,048 served
- Fircrest Police DepartmentCity police department6,945 served
- Steilacoom Police DepartmentCity police department6,627 served
- Buckley Police DepartmentCity police department6,249 served
- Eatonville Police DepartmentCity police department2,866 served
- Ruston Police DepartmentCity police department1,046 served
- Roy Police DepartmentCity police department798 served
- No name WA0272000City police department485 served
Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.
Crime
The crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Washington |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 5,113 | 6,405 | 5,572 | 4,662 | 3,883 | 554 | 339 |
| Murder | 63 | 70 | 43 | 35 | 38 | 5.4 | 4.2 |
| Rape | 374 | 393 | 356 | 378 | 374 | 41 | 40 |
| Robbery | 972 | 1,319 | 1,183 | 767 | 608 | 105 | 73 |
| Aggravated assault | 3,704 | 4,623 | 3,990 | 3,482 | 2,863 | 403 | 222 |
| Property crime | 35,443 | 41,502 | 35,117 | 26,467 | 19,362 | 3,412 | 2,753 |
| Burglary | 5,616 | 5,819 | 4,336 | 3,370 | 2,662 | 471 | 459 |
| Larceny | 22,586 | 24,421 | 18,747 | 17,431 | 13,634 | 2,092 | 1,799 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 7,241 | 11,262 | 12,034 | 5,666 | 3,066 | 848 | 495 |
| Arson | 384 | 405 | 247 | 189 | 177 | 30 | 17 |
Outside the crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Washington |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All offenses outside the crime index | 27,485 | 29,190 | 27,689 | 25,679 | 22,225 | 2,858 | 2,513 |
| Simple assault and intimidation | 6,533 | 6,486 | 6,715 | 6,884 | 6,626 | 718 | 795 |
| Vandalism | 13,642 | 14,836 | 12,854 | 9,955 | 7,465 | 1,269 | 928 |
| Fraud | 3,301 | 3,408 | 3,426 | 3,365 | 3,057 | 358 | 305 |
| Drug abuse violations | 914 | 606 | 1,051 | 2,241 | 2,267 | 153 | 184 |
| Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc. | 669 | 781 | 920 | 860 | 804 | 87 | 84 |
| Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing | 989 | 1,724 | 1,408 | 1,010 | 696 | 126 | 82 |
| Forgery and counterfeiting | 344 | 242 | 173 | 194 | 166 | 24 | 43 |
| Embezzlement | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0.5 | 2.9 |
| Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution) | 585 | 552 | 499 | 481 | 443 | 55 | 36 |
| Prostitution and commercialized vice | 17 | 13 | 12 | 33 | 38 | 2.4 | 3.5 |
| Gambling | 2 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 0.2 | |||
| Other Group A offenses | 485 | 534 | 627 | 649 | 662 | 64 | 49 |
| Manslaughter by negligence (not in the total) | 1 | 2 | 5 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 0.7 | ||
| Human trafficking (not in the total) | 8 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 0.8 | 1 |
Offenses agencies in Pierce County reported to the FBI in incident detail (NIBRS), each year, the second table by the arrest class each offense falls in. Per 100k: offenses per 100,000 people the reporting agencies police, 2021 to 2025 added together, beside Washington's rate over the same years. Agencies that reported part of a year are counted with their people, as the state's rates count them. – means too few for a rate: the count is under 20.
Source: FBI NIBRS national master files, each agency's offenses and the FBI's population for it. Washington: the crime index: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CrimeDB's chosen value per year (the state page's figures); outside it: FBI NIBRS, agencies that sent incident detail.