KING COUNTY, Wash. — Drastic cuts could be coming to the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office if the county doesn’t figure out how to plug a $150 million budget shortfall.
After several violent incidents on King County Metro buses, drivers and the public have called for more security around bus stops and buses, but the budget deficit the county is currently facing could mean fewer deputies — an issue the sheriff addressed with the county council this morning.
King County Sheriff Patricia Cole-Tindall was one of the first speakers at the King County Council budget hearing Wednesday morning. She said cuts to her staff of deputies would have a major impact after years of trying to manage a thin budget margin, “People have said we need to do more with less, and we have been doing that for over two decades now, today we are simply doing less with less.”
Sheriff Cole-Tindall told council members that these cuts could bring hard choices, such as shifting deputies to contract partners to work as security and law enforcement officers. King County Metro and Sound Transit already have contracts with the county and KCSO, and while putting more deputies with groups like them sounds good on paper, the move would mean that the sheriff would have to pull deputies from parts of unincorporated King County.
“In these and other unincorporated King County communities, response times may be delayed when there is an obvious danger to a person’s life,” explained Sheriff Cole-Tindall.
Safety and security have been a major concern after three violent incidents on King County metro buses. In December, bus driver Shawn Yim was murdered. Earlier this month, two people were shot on a bus in Tukwila. And just on Tuesday, a person was shot at the transit center in Renton.
KCSO Sheriff Cole-Tindall and King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion agree that if their budgets are slashed by millions, public safety could be compromised.
Manion insisted that if she loses a large number of Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys, cases could be delayed, suspects may sit in jail longer as cases are adjudicated, and some cases may not even be processed by her office.
“We need more resources, simply to keep up with our current workload and increased cries for improved public safety. We cannot afford to lose 90 deputy prosecuting attorneys,” said Manion.
Sheriff Cole-Tindall says she’s already feeling the impact of potential budget cuts as applications for open positions are down. She says applicants are probably wary about positions that could be cut or departments that could see staffing issues.
King County is going to have to look at plugging the budget hole somehow. A state measure that would allow a tax hike could help, but there’s no guarantee it will pass.
Rod Dembowski, King County Council (District 1) says some state measures may help, “I think it’s House bill 2015 that would authorize this council to raise sales tax by a tenth of a penny, that’s ten cents on a hundred dollars. That would solve most of the challenges that have just been presented — I’d pay 10 cents more on a $100 to keep the prosecutors in their seats, to keep the sheriff’s deputies patrolling.”
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