SEATTLE — Multiple King County law enforcement guilds came together Wednesday for a press conference to emphasize their concerns around what they describe as a "public safety crisis."
Representatives from the Seattle Police Officers Guild, King County Police Officers Guild and King County Corrections Guild spoke to reporters and offered details on the staffing and process issues the state's largest county is experiencing.
"We are looking for solutions which is why it's historic that these three labor unions have gotten together to form this coalition,” said Mike Solan, President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild.
Staffing was a concern consistently highlighted by the union representatives.
Dennis Folk, President of King County Corrections Guild, says understaffing has led to mandatory overtime and employee burnout.
At the King County Correctional Facility, staffing levels recently dipped so low that the county says between July 10 and 11 for about eight hours bookings "were paused so staff could prioritize safe operations inside the jail.”
"The command made the decision to shut down the booking area. This is something that I wasn't comfortable with,” said Folk.
Folk adds that the July incident is just one part of a persistent problem.
"There is a trickle-down effect that happens with this to where, yeah, booking was closed but they don't see the bigger picture of things that have happened because of that,” said Folk.
“King County is in crisis,” he added.
King County Corrections is dealing with roughly 100 vacancies, forcing some employees to work 16-hour shifts multiple days a week.
He says those kinds of conditions put public safety in jeopardy.
Solan said there are 350 individuals within the Seattle Police Department that are currently eligible to retire. He added that the department already has lost 122 officers so far in 2022.
Solan says the Seattle Police Department has less than 900 deployable officers.
"We have lost close to 500 people in two years; 122 this year alone,” Solan said.
"The Sheriff's Office is down 100 plus officers,” said Mansanarez.
"We are losing officers faster than we can hire them. We have about 100 vacancies, so we are sitting at about 400 officers,” said Folk about staffing for corrections.
The Seattle City Council approved an ordinance in August that aims to improve police recruitment and retention.
Under the plan, hiring incentives of up to $30,000 for lateral transfers and $7,500 for new recruits will be made available. If hired, officers will also be reimbursed for fees, travel expenses and relocation costs.
The department estimated that implementing the measure and offering hiring incentives over the next three years will cost more than $5 million.
King County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention says they continue to work to fill vacant positions as fast as possible. That is also a focus for the King County Sheriff’s Office.