Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs Law Enforcement Associates, I.U.P.A. Local #27 (WACOPS) held their annual legislative reception to educate their legislators about law enforcement.

WACOPS Executive Director Teresa Taylor shared about the legislative reception, “Each year, we hold a legislative reception.  Over the last few years, we have been intentional about bringing in law enforcement demonstrations and exhibits to help our legislature understand the highly professional environment officers work in. WA has experienced significant reforms over the last six years, and we want the legislature to get a front-seat view of how those reforms have been deployed. “

She continued, “This year we rented a much larger space and brought in over a dozen different exhibits.  We had a main stage where a defensive tactics demonstration was performed as well as a Q&A with one of Washington’s many certified K-9 teams.  We had a room with a Taser firing range and a master instructor.  In another room we had the Axon Virtual Reality Headsets with another Master Instructor.   Outside we had the Thurston County Regional SWAT Bearcat vehicle and the Pierce County Swift Water Rescue.”

Full list of participating organizations:

  • Axon
  • Behind the Badge
  • Bellevue Police Department (Defensive Tactics Demonstration)
  • BlueBridge Alliance
  • BlueHero Project
  • Everett Police Department (Recruiting in Today’s Law Enforcement Environment)
  • Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
  • King County Sheriff’s Department (VR Headsets)
  • Mountlake Terrace Police Department (Drones)
  • Olympia Police Department (Officer Tiffany Coates and Officer E Garles with K-9s)
  • City of Olympia (Civilian Crisis Response Team)
  • Pierce County Sheriff’s Department (Swift Water Rescue and Dive Team)
  • Pierce County Sheriff’s Department (School Resource Officers)
  • Thurston County Regional S.W.A.T. Team

All of these photos were taken by WACOPS member and Everett Police Department Recruiter, Danny Rabelos. You can view more of his photography on his Instagram page.