Title
A MOTION requesting that the sheriff report to the metropolitan King County council on the status of implementation of the recommendations and implementing actions contained in the Report of the King County Sheriff's Blue Ribbon Panel, dated September 11, 2006.
Body
WHEREAS, the King County sheriff worked with the council, executive and prosecutor to establish a "blue ribbon panel" to review the sheriff's office systems for investigating employee misconduct, and
WHEREAS, at the sheriff's request, the King County executive, King County council and the King County prosecutor appointed ten citizen members of the panel who brought a rich and diverse set of perspectives, expertise, and experience to their review process, which included a cumulative total of ninety-six years of experience in law enforcement, one hundred fifty-two years of experience in the law and judicial systems, fifty years of experience in King County government and sixty-five years of experience with labor issues, and
WHEREAS, this expert, ten-member panel of volunteer citizens met ten times over six months, held three public meetings, reviewed the sheriff's internal management systems, model best practices, and heard testimony from labor, sheriff personnel and from the public to identify areas of needed change and ultimately make recommendations to the sheriff and the council on needed reforms, and
WHEREAS, the panel the presented its report to the metropolitan King County council's committee-of-the-whole on September 11, 2006, which was accepted through Motion 12337, and
WHEREAS, the panel, with the support of consultant assistance and county staff help, completed a detailed and thorough report documenting the panel's forty-three findings, which outlined issues facing the sheriff's office in leadership, supervision, performance reviews, complaint handling, organizational structure, internal oversight and public trust, and
WHEREAS, the panel identified six major recommendatio...

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