King County Sheriff Steve Strachan recently announced his plans to hire 14 new deputies over the course of the next few months to “beef up” patrol in unincorporated areas of the county.
Up to three of the new deputies will be assigned to the unincorporated areas in the southeast part of the county that surround Maple Valley, Auburn and Enumclaw, Strachan said Friday.
“The southeast area is geographically spread out, which has traditionally made response times longer,” Strachan said. “Adding more deputies to the area will better serve our residents in terms of service and visibility, along with improving our response, and will add a safety factor for our deputies when critical backup is needed.”
“This is just what the public expects from its elected leaders – to deliver the services they need within the extremely limited revenues we have,” said King County ExecutiveDow Constantine. “By collaborating with his staff to create new efficiencies, the Sheriff is able to put more police on the street within his existing budget, and I thank him for that.”
The hiring process began in September and will continue through January of 2013. The 14 new deputies will complete training by the end of 2013.
*Editor's Note: Information provided by the King County Sheriff's Office.
A third release also included: Today Sheriff Strachan said he anticipates that some of the deputies will be assigned to unincorporated areas in the southwest part of the county which includes the White Center area. Another press release included: “'The southwest area has one of the highest volumes of calls in unincorporated King County,” said Sheriff Steve Strachan. “Adding more deputies will provide better service to our residents and increase safety for our deputies.” The Sheriff hopes to add at least 3 new deputies to this area as soon as they are ready for deployment."