Picking Police Protection Will It Be Blue-Chip Plan Or Blue-Plate Special?

Police protection is high on the list of concerns as this King County community and neighboring Maple Valley prepare for incorporation as cities on Aug. 31.

There are three ways to go: contract with the King County police or the department of a nearby community with an established police force; start their own departments; or join forces to establish a department.

The Aug. 31 deadline probably gives the county an inside track, at least for now, said Maj. Jackson Beard, commander of the county’s Maple Valley precinct.

Contracting with King County would place officers inside the communities, improving response times dramatically, Beard said.

It also offers access to county resources including helicopters, SWAT teams and hostage-negotiation teams.

But those resources don’t come cheap.

Woodinville, with a population of 9,980 and about 2,500 annual calls for service, pays $958,281 a year for county police protection. It gets six on-site county police personnel - four officers and two sergeants, with six patrol cars. The community also is allocated an additional 1.75 officers to cover oversight at county police headquarters, graveyard-shift protection and major-crime detectives.

Plus, Woodinville has access to the county’s air-support, crime-analysis, DARE, bomb-disposal, drug-forfeiture, fraud, major-accident-reconstruction, canine and other units, said Al Kelly, who oversees contracting for the county police agency. Woodinville chose an enhanced level of service, he noted.

Black Diamond, population 2,010, has its own department providing 24-hour protection at an annual cost of $419,713. The department, housed with City Hall in the Municipal Court Building, has four patrol cars and just signed up its eighth officer.

Chief Rick Luther attributes the price difference to the county’s admittedly more high-powered resources, but says he rarely has need of SWAT teams or helicopters. When Black Diamond needs those resources, it can seek county assistance - at a price, he said. Luther noted that his agency and those in other area communities are working to share resources such as search dogs and homicide specialists.

Woodinville and Black Diamond both contract with the county for 911 communications services, Kelly said.

Covington, population 12,500, has about $970,000 to spend on police protection. Under a county proposal, that would provide a sergeant and four officers to respond to about 2,800 calls annually.

Maple Valley, with 9,000 people, has about $615,000 to spend. Its precinct area generates more than 4,000 calls a year. It has not yet asked the county for a contract proposal, Kelly said.

Contracting “allows a council to consider options without facing the timeline,” said Carol Gagnat, regional affairs coordinator with the county Office of Budget and Strategic Planning.

But they do have other options. Maple Valley has contacted Black Diamond about the possibility it could provide police protection. Newcastle contracts with Renton for police services.

Or they could share a department.

The last Washington towns to share a department were White Salmon and Bingen, which ended their association in 1977 because the smaller Bingen wanted better communication with officers.