By Scott North
Herald Writer
It’s been an annual rite in Snohomish County, as regular as the rain.
For years each fall, when officials have begun finalizing an annual budget for county government, a battle has erupted over hiring more sheriff’s deputies, corrections officers or prosecutors.
A special county task force on Friday approved a study that the group’s chairman hopes will put an end to the feuding.
"We’ve got to get beyond the bickering," said Jeff Sax, head of the Snohomish County Council’s Law and Justice Committee.
The Republican from Snohomish earlier this year convened a committee of representatives from the various branches of county government involved in criminal justice. The group includes others on the council and representatives from County Executive Bob Drewel’s office, plus Sheriff Rick Bart, Prosecutor Jim Krider, Judge Carol McRae from the county’s district court, and others.
The group has agreed a consultant should examine the county’s criminal justice system. The study will attempt to identify places in need of improvement and resources, with preliminary results available by July.
Although it is still unknown how much the study will cost, Sax said he hopes it will foster agreement among county leaders on a plan to improve crime-fighting efforts, which now consume nearly 70 percent of the county’s annual spending.
"This is not a budget drill. This is a leadership exercise," Sax said.
But it is clear not everyone believes the study will result in harmony.
Council member Kirke Sievers, a Democrat from Everett, said he’s doubtful a consultant will be able to grasp all the factors that have led to some law enforcement decisions.
He singled out Bart’s department as an example. What would happen, Sievers wondered aloud, if the consultant finds that the sheriff should be doing more to solve "cold case" murders that often languish for years without arrests?
Victims’ families have lobbied for years for more homicide detectives, but the sheriff’s office has placed a higher priority on responding to 911 calls, citing officer safety and community safety issues.
Sievers wondered what would happen if the consultant calls those decisions into question.
"My response is that’s why you run for office. You have to have big shoulders," Sax said.
Some goals for the study include:
After his election in November, Sax and a citizen group called on the county to hire 47 patrol deputies in the coming year. That finding echoed the projections by a sheriff’s office computer model. The cost is estimated at an additional $3.5 million a year, and the ripple effect to other departments could translate into another $5 million a year, based on the 1998 county study.
You can call Herald Writer Scott North at 425-339-3431 or send e-mail to north@heraldnet.com.
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