Security
Kent crime fell again in 2025. Here is what still happens every week.
Kent Police reported a second straight year of falling crime in 2025: commercial burglaries down 60%, vehicle thefts down 59%. That is good news, and it is not a reason to sell anyone security on fear. It is a reason to look at what still happens, how often, and what is worth doing about it.
Kent Police reported commercial burglaries down 60% and vehicle thefts down 59% in 2025, through November. Kent still saw about four commercial burglaries, eleven vehicle thefts and eleven vehicle prowls a week. Security in Kent is worth buying for those specific risks: back doors and loading docks, parked cars and lots, not fear.
By Ivan Rivas, Owner and Sales Engineer · 2026-10-08 · Updated 2026-10-08
The numbers
Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla reported the 2025 figures to the City Council in December, comparing January to November against the same months of 20241.
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial burglaries | 501 | 201 | -60% |
| Vehicle thefts | 1,256 | 516 | -59% |
| Vehicle prowls | 836 | 521 | -38% |
| Residential burglaries | 188 | 117 | -38% |
| Robberies | 188 | 115 | -39% |
Over two years, from 2023 to 2025, vehicle thefts are down 75% and commercial burglaries 70%. The chief said the numbers are back to 2019 levels. Renton saw the same direction: commercial burglaries fell from 313 to 157 in 2025, and residential burglaries from 132 to 1002.
Why it fell
The chief gave three reasons. Police can chase vehicles again since voters and the Legislature loosened the 2021 pursuit law in 2024. The department is staffed to its 170 budgeted positions after raises and bonuses. And full staffing let him start a five-officer Crime Reduction Unit in 2024, aimed at crimes such as drug trafficking and vehicle theft.
Kent is adding 10 officers and four support positions in 2026, paid for by a 0.1% sales tax increase the council approved in September 2025. That makes Kent an exception: Washington ranks last of the 50 states and DC for officers per resident, at 1.37 per 1,000 in preliminary 2025 data3.
What still happens every week
Down is not zero. Spread across the 11 months reported, Kent still saw roughly:
- Four commercial burglaries a week. Back doors, loading docks and storefronts after close.
- Eleven vehicle thefts a week, and eleven vehicle prowls, where something is taken from inside a car.
- Two or three home burglaries a week.
Those are the risks worth designing for. Not the fear of a crime wave, which the numbers do not show, but the specific doors, lots and driveways where the remaining incidents happen.
What that means for a Kent business
Commercial burglary fell the most, and it is still the most common of these crimes per week. It happens after close, at the doors nobody watches. An Ajax alarm with MotionCam detectors on the back door, the stock room and the office sends the operator a photo of what tripped it. A real break-in is reported as one, and a false trip is cancelled at the desk.
Outside, the lot is where vehicles and equipment sit overnight. A camera that sees faces and plates at the gate records what happened. Live guards on a handful of cameras can speak to someone before they reach a door. Kent bans outdoor audible burglar alarms on commercial buildings4, which is worth knowing before anyone sells you one. The full commercial scope is on the Kent security systems page.
What that means for a Kent home
Two or three home burglaries a week in a city this size is a low number, and most homes will never see one. Car prowls and thefts are the more common loss, and they happen in driveways. A camera on the driveway and a doorbell at the front door cover the ground where most of it happens. An alarm on the doors covers the rest, with a photo when it trips.
Kent allows a home's outdoor siren, limited to five minutes, with written notice to police when it is fitted. Home systems for Kent are on the Kent smart home page and the home security page.
The honest version
Kent is safer than it was two years ago, by the department's own numbers. That is the right starting point for any conversation about security here. Buy for the risk you have: a back door, a lot, a driveway. Skip anything sold on a crime wave that the numbers say is not happening.
