Tonight local police and King County Sheriff’s deputies will be forced to drive suspects into Seattle to be booked into the downtown King County jail.
Every time this happens, the people of South King County are made a little less safe, as fewer officers are left to patrol and respond. This problem is especially acute in the rural eastern areas of the county where police response times are already a big problem. Forcing officers to drive from Enumclaw to Seattle in the middle of the night is absurd.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. When the people of South King County agreed to accept a new jail in their region it was with the promise that justice services would be brought closer to them. The Regional Justice Center in Kent – now the Maleng Regional Justice Center, or MRJC – allow the people of South King County to go to Kent for civil and criminal matters, and to serve on juries. And the people of South King County were promised that their police would be able to book prisoners into the MRJC jail in Kent around the clock, and no longer be forced to drive to Seattle.
Unfortunately, within a few years of the opening of the MRJC, then King County Executive Ron Sims broke that promise and closed MRJC bookings at night. The King County Council, led by members from South King County, objected and passed a law reopening the MRJC to 24-hour bookings, but Sims vetoed that measure.
Ever since, the issue of MRJC booking hours has been a battle in the King County Courthouse, and that battle is about to flare up again. Bookings are now closed at 5 p.m. at the MRJC. Those of us who work in the jail have consistently fought for more hours and, therefore, more public safety. We ask you to join us and make your voice heard.
Debate will begin soon on a new county budget. Once again, the county faces major budget cuts. Once again, some politicians will propose eliminating bookings at the MRJC all together.
At the same time, members from South King County, Councilmembers Dave Upthegrove, Reagan Dunn and Pete von Reichbauer, have been working to expand MRJC bookings. They helped us pass a measure directing Executive Dow Constantine to give the County Council options and costs associated with expanding the booking hours.
It turns out that for only $600,000 per year, a tiny fraction of the county’s general fund budget, we could extend MRJC bookings to 9 p.m. This would dramatically improve the current situation, by at least allowing south county officers to transmit prisoners after rush hour.
The budget crunch facing the county is real, but so is the threat to public safety posed by another round of budget cuts.
Contact Constantine and members of the County Council. You can find all their contact information at www.kingcounty.gov.
Join us in telling our county officials that it is time to protect public safety and keep the promises made to South King County.
Officer Randy Weaver is president of the King County Corrections Guild, the collective bargaining unit representing the Corrections Officers and Sergeants who work in the county’s two adult jails. Weaver lives in Kent.
