The King County Sheriff’s Office has an expansive contracting model with over a dozen cities receiving policing services through interlocal agreements. Cheol Kang, the office’s chief of the community programs and services division, said there are alluring cost-cutting measures for smaller cities. Rather than pouring resources and staff time into training, recruitment and discipline, cities can pay for, essentially, the “service delivery of a fully commissioned … deputy to serve in their community.” Those deputies work in the community day-to-day, too, he said.
Contracting out policing services has not been without snags. In Burien, for instance, the city and Sheriff’s Office have gotten into dramatic legal and political battle over the Sheriff’s Office’s refusal to enforce a camping ban.
I didn’t know this was a thing anywhere. How does this save anyone money? You still have to pay for officers.
It’s a Police as a Service: you pay for when you need cops and scale with demand, contracted with a set of service level agreement metrics.
Once police depts are privatized, you will be able to switch police service providers that fit better your needs and pocket. Can’t wait for Prime-police and Ubercop.
Prison companies frothing at the mouth thinking of owning the police who will fill their prisons for them.
Surge pricing on 4th of July and St. Patrick’s Day.
It’s just another grift.
I think I agree, but it’s really hard to tell. I guess it takes a lot for training and such? I would love to know how Edmonds thinks this will be cost cutting fr. I suspect that knowing your neighbors as cops can be good and bad for both sides.
Maybe because the hiring and training processes are paid by the county rather than the city?
Maybe? They still have to pay the county for providing the officers though. I think the person who said grift probably was closer.
If you only think in the cost for officers, the cost stays the same or possibly even increases.
However, this allows you to lay off several administrative employees since their duties would be handled by the larger office.
Finally, if there is a complaint against the police department since the city no longer runs the police department the larger Police department would have to field those complaints and possibly be on the hook for whatever lawsuit and damages occur from bad policing, which can save the city millions of dollars a year.
Who do you think is going to eat the cost of lawsuits?
The city that runs the police force.
In this case it would be Seattle
