City of Kenmore Police Department

Kenmore is known for its family-friendly neighborhoods, abundant parks and natural spaces, an award-winning public school system, access to higher education, and high-quality medical care.

The City of Kenmore has partnered with the King County Sheriff’s Office to provide police services to residents since incorporation in 1998. Kenmore has designated a mix of police services including locally-dedicated officers who work out of Kenmore's Police station, as well as additional support services such as command oversight, administrative support, and patrol sergeant supervision. These support services have, until 2011, historically been provided by King County Sheriff’s Precinct 2 staff, also located in Kenmore.

However, in 2011, the City of Kirkland annexed all of the unincorporated area between Kenmore, Bothell and Woodinville, which led to the closure and relocation of the Sheriff’s Kenmore precinct to the City of Sammamish, located more than 20 miles from Kenmore. The relocation created a challenge to provide the traditional support services to Kenmore Police Department.

That is when the police chiefs of Kenmore and Shoreline (also a partner city) came together to create a unique partnership between the two departments, that would provide Kenmore with command oversight, sergeant patrol supervision, and administrative support--all provided by the City of Shoreline Police Department. This partnership was the first of its kind between two partner cities. The innovative approach has saved both cities a total of $600,000 a year and earned both cities the Association of Washington Cities' (AWC) 2013 Municipal Excellence Award for innovative partnering.