Sheriff Warns Against Law Enforcement Cuts Valley Substations, Dare, Traffic Enforcement At Risk, Goldman Says

Spokane County Sheriff John Goldman warned Thursday that $500,000 in proposed 1996 budget cuts could shut down Valley substations, eliminate DARE activities outside the classroom and hamper traffic enforcement.

Goldman is mobilizing civilian volunteers to fight the county commission’s plan to trim every department budget by 3.5 percent.

The county’s $180 million budget will be finalized after Thanksgiving.

At the most risk, the sheriff said, is the SCOPE program (Sheriff’s CommunityOriented Policing Effort), which began 16 months ago.

SCOPE programs are substations located from the West Plains to Otis Orchards and have provided about 27,000 volunteer hours since their inception. Citizens do everything from running radar at schools to lifting fingerprints at minor crime scenes, such as thefts and vandalism.

“These are good investments in the future,” Goldman said. “They focus on prevention and empowering people to keep their communities safer. It really does work.”

Lisa Beckman, president of the Green Bluff SCOPE, said volunteers are planning to swamp county commissioners with letters and petitions to restore the funding cuts.

In addition to the proposed $500,000 in cuts, Goldman said another $200,000 of his budget must be spent to replace old cars. The money would come from other department activities.

“It’s very serious to the program,” Beckman said of the cuts.

Volunteers, she said, photograph gang graffiti, fingerprint abandoned cars and patrol school grounds in search of pedophiles who might try to lure children to their cars.

“This frees up a lot of time for the deputies,” Beckman said.

County Commissioner Steve Hasson said he values the SCOPE program and, along with his colleagues, will try to meet the sheriff’s department halfway - possibly reducing the $500,000 budget cut to $250,000.

But Hasson also said Goldman is new to the budget process and needs to improve office efficiencies.

More than $500,000 went to cover overtime costs in 1995 for deputies and corrections officers.

“I don’t think he has anyone over there who’s well-versed in financial strategy,” Hasson said. “It’s important they show every bit of financial prudence as everyone else.”

Goldman warns that traffic enforcement and investigation could be decimated under the current budget proposal.

In years past, the county diverted up to $750,000 in road funds to pay for traffic patrols. The 1996 budget includes no road money for the sheriff.

Goldman said violent crime is up 25 percent from two years ago, while calls this year are up 19 percent over 1994.

, DataTimes