SEATTLE - Property crime victims in unincorporated King County may also fall victim to the budget crunch.
King County's Sheriff Sue Rahr says by having to cut 18 deputies to make ends meet, detectives will no longer be able to do follow up property crime investigations.
If you are the victim of a burglary, car prowl, theft, auto theft, fraud, and so on, we will have no detectives to conduct the follow-up investigations, said Rahr at a news conference. Our citizens need to know this.
Rahr said she will take actions, including reassigning some officers, to give priority to emergency responses and to crimes against persons.
Sheriff Rahr also called on the police officers' union to give up part of their scheduled raises.
Deputies are scheduled to receive a five percent raise next year. So far the union has refused to budge on the raise issue.
If the guild comes forward and offers to give back some portion of their pay raise, I will certainly go to the council and say the guild has made a show of good faith, said Rahr.
Rank-and-file deputies were not given the chance to vote on raise question. The union took out a full page newspaper ad today telling the public they had negotiated the raise in good faith.
Rahr says if the deputies give up the increase it would mean she could hire back some, if not all, of the deputies being laid off.
