Sheriff’s Department proposes cuts in service due to King County budget deficit

King County recently projected a $68 million defecit in the general fund for 2009.

All county agencies that recieve money from this fund have been directed to make budget cuts from their portions.

Mandatory services, like the Sheriff’s department, are to cut 8.65 percent of their budget. Virtually 100 percent of the Sheriff’s budget comes from the county’s general fund.

On June 5, representatives of the county’s criminal justice agencies announced their proposed cuts. See the story in the Post Intelligencer. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/365914_countycuts06.html

The piece that I am writing this week is on the affects to the Sheriff’s Department and specifically to the Burien area. However, since the cuts to law enforcement will be felt the most profoundly in the unincorporated areas of King County, this piece is relevant to the whole county. This is being written for the Highline Times in Burien.

Both Burien Police Chief Scott Kimerer, and Sgt. John Urquhart, spokesman for the King County Sheriff’s Department, have told me that the Sheriff’s budget cuts will have little if any affect on city police, including those like Burien and Sea Tac who contract their police services from the county.

However, Urquhart said the cuts will have a “significant affect on unincorporated areas.” These are areas of the county that are not part of the cities and do not have their own city police forces. Law enforcement falls solely on the county. He described the unincorporated area near Burien as being approximately from SW 128th St, north to SW Roxbury St.

(I am currently looking for a map of the unincorporated areas and a list of the communities within them.)

Sheriff Sue Rahr, with the advice of division chiefs, is responsible for which cuts in services will be made. None of which, according to Urquhart, are for certain yet. “We are interested in what the public thinks is important,” he said.

Up to 75 staff and officers of all ranks could be let go. Services that could be diminished include:

·     Investigations of property crimes under $10,000. A uniformed officer will still respond to the 911 call. They will dust for prints, conduct primary interviews, and write a report. But if the value of the stolen property is under $10,000, the report will be filed away and no investigation will take place.

·     Cold case investigations, which are cases that were closed when there were no more leads to follow are reactivated. The use of DNA evidence and other scientific advancements are key factors in the success of these investigations.

·     There could be fewer homicide detectives.

·     Fewer special case detectives, who investigate sex crimes and child abuse cases

·     Some neighborhood sheriff stations could be closed.

 

I will post more tomorrow. I should have a complete list of the proposed cuts.

I will also write a little about the county’s deficit, and the reasons for it according to the King County Office of Management and Budget.