In August of 2008, way before the recent attention to the unfortunate collection of violent incidents by the Seattle Police Department, King County Deputy Don Griffee picked up Johnny R. Bradford, who later was determined to be falsely accused. Bradford later left the patrol car with a bloody lip, saying that Griffee had punched him. The deputy was acquitted, barely, two years ago, but subsequently lost his job for excessive force and criminal conduct -- an example of King County Sheriff's Sue Rahr's then-recent no tolerance policy with use excessive force. But the decision to fire him has been reversed by an arbitrator, awarding him with 19 months of back wages. He was making $34.91 an hour at the time he was fired. more ›

Last week, we linked to a map showing that North Highline is one of King County's few unincorporated areas, yet to be assigned to a city jurisdiction. Then, we noted Highline because the area is in need of more policing, yet will be losing some valuable coverage as a result of the county budget cuts against which King County Sheriff Rahr is fighting. Now, we're mentioning it because the Times finally brought a two-week-old piece of news (whoops) to our attention: Seattle and Burien have reached a "Memorandum of Understanding" (MOU) on annexation boundaries for the neighborhood in the first steps towards incorporating the area into their respective cities. more ›

King County Exec. Ron Sims is cutting everyone's budget to try to cover the $93 million dollar county deficit, and it's starting to get ugly. This morning's showdown is between Sims and King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, who says that the budget cuts will mean her office is forced to--among other discontinuations--stop investigating property crimes under $10,000 (most car theft, for example). Dozens of troopers currently assigned to unincorporated King County will have to be contracted to specific cities, Sound Transit, and Metro, leaving already-isolated residents without needed patrol. more ›