After 'defunding' police department Seattle leftists are going after the county cops

On the November ballot in King County, WA are charter amendments 5 and 6 would give the ability to hire and fire the King County Sheriff to the King County Council rather than the voters. The amendments would also give the council the ability to define the parameters of the sheriff's duties.

"It's a power grab by a few politicians who think they know better than voters," said Stan Seo, a Captain with the King County Sheriff's Office and a spokesperson for the Save our Sheriff campaign. "Proponents of these Amendments say they want more accountability for police, but what is more accountable than being accountable directly to the voters we serve?"

In an interview with The Post Millennial Seo confirmed that one of the items on the "chopping block" was the helicopter program.

Seo said that this is a "critical and capable function of Search and Rescue… and it is a requirement of the Sheriff's department to provide Search and Rescue and is one of the few if not the only agency that has a full time search and rescue helicopter." Seo went on to describe that because of this resource King County has assisted other municipalities and has been able to get to the site of emergencies before other agencies.

Activist politicians may have targeted the helicopter program first because it provides support to other agencies including during riots and civil unrest. Seattle has been plagued with riots and violent protests since the end of May. Yesterday, President Trump announced that he is working to remove federal funding from cities with "anarchist jurisdictions" and redirect federal funds away from them "to the maximum extent permitted by law."

Seattle was named among the cities claiming that it "allowed anarchists and rioters to take over six square blocks of the city," and that "the local government endorsed this lawlessness and taking of property."

The Sherriff's department also has a dive unit and tactical team which could replace the harbor patrol and SWAT teams which were also cut by the Seattle council. The major crimes and special investigation units of the Sheriff’s department have been instrumental in stopping and cracking down on child trafficking through the Child Find Program.

"I think it's a power grab and fundamentally a defunding measure because you have fringe activist groups that have influenced several council members" said Seo.

In 2013 Camden New Jersey defunded their police department. However, policing duties were taken over by the Camden County Sheriff. Laid off unionized officers were rehired as Camden County Sheriff employees. The move was initially hailed as a success of "police defunding" but Community activist Ojii BaBa told CNN that "Camden is "far away from any practical de-policed reality.'"

Last week, the King County Police Officers Guild announced they have launched a campaign to oppose King County Charter Amendments 5 and 6 that were placed on the ballot this month, which they believe are an effort to defund and dismantle the King County Sheriff's Office.

In 2019, King County voters chose extremist candidates over long time establishment Democrats. The new council has already taken steps to defund the Sheriff's department.

It now appears as if King County is trying to stop something similar to the Camden model from happening in Seattle. With the Seattle City Council voting to slash over 100 officers and defunding multiple specialty departments in SPD, some hoped that the King County Sheriff's Department could provide support.

"The politicians on the King County Council rushed these drastic and dangerous changes through with little chance for the public to comment,"said Seo in a public statement. "The defund-police movement that started in Seattle yesterday has spread to the rest of King County today, and tomorrow it will be in towns and cities all over the state if we don’t stop it here."

Charter Amendment 5 would take away the right of voters to elect the King County Sheriff. Amendment 6 would allow the County Council to achieve their stated objective of dismantling and defunding the Sheriff’s Office by allowing the Council to define the duties of the Sheriff by ordinance rather than state law like every other County Sheriff in the state. The amendments are required to change the duties because right now the state constitution establishes the Sheriff’s department as the principle law enforcement officer provider in every county.

"The eyes of the country are on Seattle and King County right now," said Seo. "And as law enforcement professionals we will take this campaign as an opportunity to show voters that police are worth defending, not defunding."