King Co. Executive, Sheriff begin restructuring sheriff's dept., want ban on collecting racial data lifted

King Co Executive, Sheriff want ban on collecting racial data lifted

Newly-appointed King County Sheriff, Patti Cole-Tindall, is joining King County Executive Dow Constantine to call for an existing ban on collecting racial data on police stops to be lifted in an effort to remove bias policing.

SEATTLE - Just two months into the job, King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall is restructuring the department and adding two new divisions. She is also joining King County Executive Dow Constantine's call for an existing ban on collecting racial data on police stops to be lifted in an effort to remove bias policing.

She said the changes she is making to the department won’t require any additional staffing or money this year. The department is down 118 officers and 40 professional personnel. She said she will use the salary savings to recruit a different kind of community responder for the newly-created division of Community Programs and Services.

"Alternatives, co-response models, reforming or re-imagining public safety-- that work will be housed in this division," Cole-Tindall said. 

The Sheriff will also restore the Special Operations Division, a unit that was disbanded years ago because of budget cuts. It will be a consolidation of the Air, Marine, Bomb and other specialty units, such as the Special Emphasis team.

Cole-Tindall said each precinct used to have its own Special Emphasis Team, but because of budget cuts, there’s only one operating out of the Burien Sheriff’s station.

She said the department will not have a gang unit until the department has filled some of the empty positions.

"She’s come up with a plan that really sets it up on the right path," said King County Executive Dow Constantine.  

King County Sheriff's Office audit finds racial disparities in use of force, arrests

The King County Auditor’s Office on Tuesday released an audit that found racial disparities in King County Sheriff’s Office interactions on calls for service.

Cole-Tindall and Constantine are also calling to lift a ban on collecting racial data. The announcement comes three weeks after the county auditor released a report that found "racial disparities in the numbers of arrests and uses of force, where the Sheriff’s Office does collect data on race."

"I was saddened and disappointed when I saw the results of the audit," said Cole-Tindall.

She said the audit just looked at the raw data and not the circumstances of each encounter with an officer.

Current county law prevents collecting racial data when an officer questions an individual during an encounter, such as a traffic stop. It’s only collected when a deputy makes an arrest or issues a citation.

Both Constantine and Cole-Tindall say they are in favor of lifting the ban to eliminate bias policing.

"I think there is good reason in this day and age to collect racial data because we acknowledge more than ever that race is a very strong indicator of the way in which you want to be treated by police or other government agencies," Constantine said

Cole-Tindall plans to formally respond to the auditor’s findings in August and expects the new Community Programs and Services division to be up and running by year’s end.