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AN ORDINANCE establishing a memorial for King County sheriff's office personnel who have lost their lives in the performance of their duty; and requiring the executive and sheriff's office develop a plan for a memorial in the King County Courthouse.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. King County was established as a separate county in the Washington Territory on December 22, 1852. Soon thereafter, the King County sheriff was established, created by the Washington Territorial Legislature in its first session.
2. Since 1854, county sheriffs have been mandated by state law "to keep and preserve the peace in their respective counties, quiet and suppress all affrays, riots, unlawful assemblies and insurrections, and for apprehending or securing any person for felony or breach of the peace."
3. The sheriff's office has served King County as its first, and longest serving, law enforcement agency for one hundred sixty years and its current headquarters are in the historic King County Courthouse in Seattle.
4. Today, the King County sheriff's office provides a variety of regional and local law enforcement services. The sheriff's office is the first response "police department" for all of King County's unincorporated areas. In addition, the sheriff's office, through contracts, is the "police department" for twelve King County cities, Metro Transit, Sound Transit, the King County international airport and several other federal, state, tribal and governmental agencies. The sheriff's office has several important regional responsibilities, including the operation of the county's automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS), E-911 call and dispatch, King County search and rescue, and various other regional programs. Consequently, the King County sheriff's office is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the Pacific Northwest, and only the city of Seattle and the Washington State Patrol have more commissioned officers.
5. Since the inception of the office, fifteen deputies have lost their lives in the line of duty, the first in 1853 and the last in 2006.
6. The fallen King County deputies are memorialized as part of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., the nation's monument to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. Dedicated in 1991, the memorial honors federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety and protection of our nation.
7. The county's deputies are also memorialized as part of the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial, located in Olympia, which commemorates the lives, work and dedication of officers who have died in service. Completed in 2005, the memorial is located on the Washington state Capitol campus.
9. Currently, King County has no memorial for deputies who have died in the line of duty while in service to the people of the county.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the county council that a memorial to the King County sheriff's deputies who have lost their lives in the performance of their duty shall be established in the King County Courthouse.
SECTION 2. A. The sheriff's office shall, in cooperation with the executive and the facilities management division, develop a plan to establish a memorial in a public portion of the courthouse, preferably near the offices of the sheriff. The plan shall identify at a minimum:
1. The proposed location of the memorial;
2. The proposed method to solicit designs for the memorial that appropriately pay tribute to the sacrifice of the fallen deputies, while also conforming to the design and artwork of the adjacent courthouse space;
3. Identification of needed approvals for the installation of the memorial; and
4. The proposed schedule, budget and potential funding sources for the memorial.
B. The sheriff's office and the executive shall transmit the required report and a motion that acknowledges receipt of the report. The sheriff's office and the executive must file the report and motion required by this ordinance by June 1, 2013, in the form of a paper original and an electronic copy with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers, the council chief of staff and the lead staff for the law, justice, health and human services committee or its successor.