Drafter
Clerk 02/19/2008
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AN ORDINANCE accepting the sheriff's office operational master plan.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. The sheriff's office is the primary law enforcement agency in King County with responsibilities to provide regional, local unincorporated and contract services. Regional law enforcement services are provided to the more than one million eight hundred thousand residents of King County.
2. In 2004, in response to a changing environment, public inquiries and a performance review by the King County council auditor; the sheriff's office committed to the completion of an operational master plan to include a comprehensive review of the law enforcement operations, services, and facilities provided by the sheriff's office.
3. Ordinance 15333, adopting the 2006 King County budget, authorized funding for an operational master plan.
4. The operational master plan was directed by a steering committee comprised of representatives of the sheriff's office, county executive, King County council, superior court, district court, county prosecutor, public defender and adult and juvenile detention as well as the cities of Burien, Shoreline and Sammamish and the unincorporated area councils.
5. The steering committee, supported by a project team and consultants, collected and examined extensive information from a wide array of stakeholders and developed six recommendations regarding the operations, services types and levels, service model and the executive authority of the sheriff.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. The King County council recognizes that the provision of law enforcement services is a mandated and fundamental county responsibility. The council is committed to the provision of the highest-quality, most-effective and least-costly law enforcement services. The council finds that, in order to provide the best possible services, the King County sheriff's office should work to implement those policies contained in its 2007 Operational Master Plan. Specifically, it is the intent of the council that:
A. As a provider of local and regional law enforcement services the sheriff should continue to implement proactive policing through the Community Oriented Policing best practice model that builds on reactive policing. Community Oriented Policing is based on police and community partnerships. Law enforcement officers become well-known members of the community in which they serve. They partner with local residents, businesses and other service providers to integrate into the community and proactively work towards preventing crime. The objectives of community policing are to reduce crime and disorder, promote citizens' quality of life in communities, reduce fear of crime and improve police-citizen relations. The council also intends that the sheriff's office find a balance between meeting the sheriff's identified unmet needs with the policy of increasing pro-active law enforcement;
B. The sheriff's office should foster and leverage collaborative partnerships to increase efficiencies and improve overall/regional services for all King County residents; and
C. The sheriff's contracting methodology should be reviewed to ensure equity in cost allocation.
SECTION 2. In accordance with K.C.C. 4.04.210, the King County Sheriff's
Office Operational Master Plan, Attachment A to this ordinance, dated October 2007, is hereby accepted.