BURIEN, Wash. - Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins is one of the latest in law enforcement to raise his concerns about the Washington State Crime Justice Training Commission.
“By state law, we are supposed to have our applicants through the academy within the first six months on the job. We have to continuously get extensions on that because it can be a lot longer than that,” said Sheriff Atkins.
He says it is taking time he doesn't have because this year 22 members of the Sheriff’s department are eligible for retirement.
WSCJTC Director Sue Rahr says she was heard from many of the 300 law enforcement agencies that rely on the academy.
“This is a common problem across the entire state. Everybody is suffering the same challenges of filling vacancies that were held for a couple of years in the recession, and the baby boomer generation of cops are retiring. It is just a math problem,” said Rahr.
Rahr says she has funding for 300 recruits, but has to train nearly 600. She's told lawmakers, in the next budget she needs $2.4 million for more classes.
“If we get to December or January and that additional funding is not proposed, we are going to have to shut down all new police training and just complete the training for those who are already in the academy,” said Rahr.
“If necessary, I will hold my own academy, and try to eliminate this wait period we are looking at,” said Sheriff Atkins.
Rahr says she is optimistic after discussing the issue with Governor Jay Inslee last week. A spokesperson for Governor Inslee’s office says they have made a commitment to provide more funding, but have not yet determined how they will do that.
