By Warren Cornwall
Herald Writer
Coping with crime in Snohomish County isn’t just a matter of hiring more police.
Adding new deputies means more arrests, which translates into more inmates at an already overcrowded jail, more cases for prosecutors and more trials in courts, some of the county’s top crime fighters told the county council on Friday.
With a new council seemingly intent on hiring more deputies — it recently rewrote the budget to hire four more — council members are now trying to predict the repercussions for the rest of the justice system.
Council member Jeff Sax, chairman of the council’s law and justice committee, said in the short term he hoped to find out how many more deputies can be hired without overwhelming the rest of the justice system. In the long term, he wanted the different law enforcement agencies to reach an understanding of how staffing in one department is linked to staffing in another.
The outcome of what Sax billed as a three-month study by county officials could set the tone for future hiring decisions, debates about budget priorities and the spending of millions of tax dollars.
County prosecutor Jim Krider swiftly dismissed the idea that any deputies could be added without putting more strain on other departments. The number of cases for his prosecutors is tied less to crime levels than to the number of officers catching people, he said.
"I think it’s wrong to even suggest that by adding another deputy you don’t impact the other agencies," he said. "I think we have to start with the understanding that when you add a cop you impact the system."
That was echoed by Dick Carlson, Snohomish County Superior Court administrator. While there might have been slack in the system in the past to absorb more deputies, "the room just doesn’t exist any more," he said.
Sheriff Rick Bart, who has lobbied the county to hire dozens of additional officers, said new deputies don’t automatically mean a jump in arrests. Some of the new ones could be devoted to community policing, he said.
Council members responded by probing for ways to save money and time while still meeting public demands of being tough on crime.
Alternatives to jail time, such as home detention or community service for certain nonviolent crimes, have been used in some courts, presiding District Court Judge Carol McRae said.
She said added deputies probably wouldn’t burden her courts. But assigning people to work for hours on community service has proved less effective because people rarely complete those sentences, she said.
At the Superior Court level, many of those convicted aren’t candidates for such programs. And Krider cautioned that elected judges may be leery of appearing soft on crime by not sending people to jail.
"They’re hearing from the public that we’re not tough enough," he said.
Sax also recommended that the county look at what misdemeanors might be reduced to lesser infractions to lighten some of the load on the system.
How much this beefed-up law enforcement could cost received little attention, but earlier estimates suggest it would cost millions of dollars a year.
Following 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 a 1998 county study.
Sax, however, said talk of money would come later, after the council reaches an understanding of what the departments need. Audits could uncover savings, he said. And he also signaled that other areas of county government might see less funding.
"We’re going to fund priorities, and we’re not going to fund the other things," he said.
Council member Dave Gossett cautioned that the costs could still exceed the county’s budget.
"I doubt we’re going to be able to do it with current revenues," he said.
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to
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