The Renton Police Department reported a decrease in multiple crimes from 2023 to 2024, which it credits to targeting repeat offenders, such as the “Kia Boys.”

RPD reported that 2024 saw a decrease in multiple crimes, which Deputy Chief Ryan Rutledge credits to growing agency partnerships and the intentional use of the Violent Crimes Unit. The VCU are Renton SWAT officers who arrest violent offenders and investigate them. Rutledge said they employed the VCU after seeing a rise in violent crimes at the beginning of 2024.

Crimes that decreased:

• Homicides: Eight in 2023, six in 2024.

• Firearm assaults: 93 in 2023, 66 in 2024.

• Robbery: 145 in 2023, 95 in 2024.

• Commercial burglary: 483 in 2023, 313 in 2024.

• Motor vehicle theft: 1,484 in 2023, 966 in 2024.

Rutledge said many of these crimes were carried out using a stolen vehicle.

“There was a group referred to often as the ‘Kia Boys,’ stealing a lot of cars, fleeing from police, and then committing violent crime in our community and kind of in the region, not just Renton,” Rutledge said. “But our VCU unit kept arresting, identifying, arresting and investigating these offenders, holding them accountable, and we don’t see them creating crimes in our city at all at this point.”

Rutledge said he believes many of the crimes were perpetrated by a small number of people, and the decrease in crime exemplifies that following the arrests of the “Kia Boys.”

Regarding murders, 2023 saw eight murders, while 2024 saw six murders. Rutledge said those numbers tend to stay around the same average number year-to-year.

Regarding driving under the influence arrests, 2023 saw 139, and 2024 saw 180. Rutledge said part of that is because officers are making more stops, and there are good staffing numbers. He said he thinks it’s not necessarily that more people are driving under the influence, but rather, RPD is making more stops.

Rutledge said that at the beginning of 2024, when the department wanted to address crime, police officials also strengthened relationships with their partners, such as the prosecutor’s office, Renton courts, probationary officers, and community partners.

Rutledge said they would communicate with the prosecutor’s office and ask what they need when investigating to ensure a strong case. He added that the VCU specifically partnered with resource groups to help families and parents with some of the youth who were causing problems in the community.

Partnerships

Renton City Councilmember Carmen Rivera, who also chairs the Renton Public Safety Committee, said she credits the drop in certain crimes to community partnerships. Rivera said when she first got into office, she fostered a relationship with Project Be Free and RPD. Project Be Free is a nonprofit that assists RPD and other police departments on domestic violence calls by speaking with and providing services to victims.

“And really, the best part, the collaboration between social services, community-based programming and our police department,” Rivera said. “Because that, in my opinion, is a magical trifecta that I’ve always identified.”

Although 2023 saw 2,179 domestic violence calls, and 2024 saw 1,925 domestic violence calls, RPD spokesperson Meeghan Black said it’s difficult to draw any quick conclusions from a program like Project Be Free. She said their services and the clienteles’ needs are ongoing and extensive, and it’s not a one-time contact-and-done type situation.

Rivera said she’s pleased to see this steady decline in crime, and as an assistant criminology professor at Seattle University, she understands how crime decreases work. Rivera said the trend shouldn’t look like mountains, but instead more like a nice downward hill.

“With the increase in our technological investments and just again creating a department with a good culture and good officers that are really focused on taking care of the community, it’s all of that,” Rivera said. “ I’m incredibly proud because as someone who’s in criminal justice, I want to see effective, long-lasting change.”