King County Sheriff Steve Strachan announced last week that 14 new deputies will be hired over the course of the next few months to “beef up” patrol in unincorporated areas of the county.
Strachan said Friday he anticipates that as many as three of the new deputies will be assigned to the northeast area which includes unincorporated areas that surround Woodinville, Sammamish and North Bend.
“The northeast 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 Executive Dow 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.
--Information from the King County Sheriff's Office.
