On January 1, 1973, James M. Paulson was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, the city’s first lieutenant.

The new Fife Court, Police Department and Fife Jail were built in 1997, where it currently stands at 3737 Pacific Hwy E.  The jail, at that time, was used as a short term holding facility for inmates attending Fife Municipal Court. In May of 2001, the jail became a fully operational 30-day Correctional facility with a 24 bed capacity. The jail was later expanded to a 34 bed, males only, facility. The Jail currently books for multiple agencies through out Pierce and Southern King County.  The Fife City Jail is operated by 1 Sergeant and 8 Correctional Officers.  The Fife City Jail does not currently house females.

As it now stands the Fife Police Department has Chief Brad Blackburn, Assistant Chief Mark Mears, Commander Tim Floyd, 5 lieutenants, 10 patrol officers,  2 K-9 Officers, 3 detectives/3 CIT detectives, 1 CJTC officer instructor, 2 traffic units, and 1 commercial vehicle inspector, 4 non-commissioned personnel,  and 10 communications records officers.

In March 1971 a reserve cadet program was initiated.  The cadet program is the first phase of training before the regular reserve unit.  It provides for semi-trained officers for the reserve unit.  Their function as a cadet officer is to be trained in radio dispatching procedures, office tasks, and violator custody.  With this cadet program, the regular reserve unit maintains its level of 17 reserve officers currently.

Each regular officer is assigned a police vehicle and is responsible for the upkeep of the unit.  Each officer is also available for emergency call-out, 24 hours a day.  Each officer is allowed to drive the unit to and from work.

There are three square miles in the City of Fife. 

In 1973, the Fife Police totalled approximately 70,000 per year and handled approximately 2,000 calls for service per year.  The Fife Police Officers in 2008,totalled approximately 200,000 miles and handled approximately 9,758 calls for service.