Seattle city police face budget cuts. Exploding crime wave in 3..2..1..? (Yakima: wage, tax)

[70Ford]

Ah...stories about police guilds suing other police who also fight crime...well, it just warms my heart. Can't you just imagine the scene?

Guy being mugged. "Help!"
Officer walking by.. "No can do bud, would open myself to a lawsuit. Can't fight crime on some one else's turf. That's would be wrong. You can get sued for that, you know."
Guy getting mugged "HEYALP! HE'S KILLING ME!!!"
Officer walking by - "Sure would like to assist, but you would probably thank me. And you might just spread the story of how I saved you. Then, KING5 would do a "Local officer saves man from mugging" piece. Then I'd be in front of my sergeant, and he'd be taking my badge. I got a family to feed. CAN'T YOU SEE THAT??? Now, you have a good day, sir."
Mugger - MUAHAHAHAHA!!
Guy being mugged - "Man, WTF! Man!"
Officer - Begins to whistle...and walks away..

It would be illegal for King County to pay city police officers to do the work that is "owned" by the King County Police Officer's Guild. If you were to try and enter into such a contract, KCPOG would have you in court before the ink dried.

County sheriff tells Constantine to back off budget

$450.8 million dollars a year to run the police dept. and the judicial system. That is one. huge. piece of criminal pie. No wonder they'd sue to protect that. ****** Sounds like some sort of racket, to me.******

King Co. police, prosecutors brace for $37 mil in cuts

[70Ford]

Four charged in transit tunnel beating

Sarcastic post became real life. Well, close enough.

Spooky.

*****************
As surveillance cameras rolled, three unarmed security guards stood by during the Jan. 28 assault. The guards, who are trained not to get involved in physical confrontations, stood by as the girl was beaten, kicked and robbed.

[70Ford]

Dang it. Can't edit the post, too late. The math on this is interesting.

450.8 million spent. Estimated 9100 inmates. That's $49,538.46 spent per person who's put in jail. Putting 2 people in jail costs dang near 100 thousand bucks?

Imagine if there was no crime, how many people in Seattle - the USA, even - would be out of work.

http://www.seattle.gov/financedepart...LIC_SAFETY.pdf

By the end of 2009, there are projected to be approximately 9,100 bookings in the King County Jail for people
who allegedly committed misdemeanor offenses or failed to appear for court hearings. This is up from
approximately 8,600 jail bookings in 2008. The projected 2009 bookings will generate close to 97,000 jail days
- the equivalent of having 266 people in jail on any given day and is about 5% higher than in 2008. Through
July 2009, on a daily basis, the City averaged 206 people in the King County Jail, 59 people in the Yakima
County Jail, and one person in the Renton Jail.

[fiveten]

yeah if only I could threaten to commit a crime to be put in jail, but then cut a deal where I won't do the crime but instead I could receive a check for let's say 25,000 a year. Sounds like a good deal for the city. Or at least help me pay my rent.

50,000 a year on inmates is ridiculous. I'd have to study my ass off and spent over a year looking for a job, then stay with the company for several years before I could even come close to making that much.

[sean98125]

I see your links to articles about the King County budget, but where is the stuff about cuts to the Seattle Police department?

[Under The Clouds]

The City of Seattle is not cutting sworn officers--it's adding them. The City budget includes funds for 49 new officers for each of the next two or three years. Plus, the Seattle Police Guild negotiated the highest wage rates for any police force in the state, so they are competitive with more affluent suburbs.

[70Ford]

After cutting $150 million over the past two years, the county is expecting deficits of $60 million and $80 million over the next two years. Since criminal justice agencies -- such as the Sheriff's Office, the county's courts, jail and probation services --- eat up about 70 percent of the $630 million general fund, they face the brunt of the cuts. Sheriff Sue Rahr has warned she'll have to lay off about 70 deputies and stop investigating many crimes in unincorporated areas of the county if more tax money isn't coming.

Constantine asks King County workers to freeze salaries

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by Under The Clouds

The City of Seattle is not cutting sworn officers--it's adding them. The City budget includes funds for 49 new officers for each of the next two or three years. Plus, the Seattle Police Guild negotiated the highest wage rates for any police force in the state, so they are competitive with more affluent suburbs.

28 deputies gone under proposed 2011 King County budget | KING5.com | Seattle Area Local News

The King County Council adopted a 2011 budget that will slash over 300 positions and leave unincorporated King County with the lowest level of police protection in the state.

[Xanathos]

I fail to see the problem with this. We have more than enough police as it is, given the fact that we have so many spares that we can have some of them running around convenience stores kicking kids with their hands in the air and then lying in their police reports. I do love how people try to make this city out to be a hotbed of crime, however. Apparently some people have never lived in other major cities.

[AlohaHuey]

The Justice Department needs to step in and oversee a Police Department Gone Wild. The lack of discipline and trigger-happy nature of the Seattle cops is nauseating.