Sheriff Seeks To Add 9 To Fill Wsp Void Lawmakers Order Troopers To Cut Back; Tickets Could Pay For Hires

Spokane County commissioners are considering a proposal by Sheriff Mark Sterk to hire nine people to beef up his department’s traffic unit.

Sterk made the request Tuesday. He told commissioners the eight deputies and one sergeant were necessary to address the “investigation problem that the Washington State Patrol dropped on us the first of the year.”

Acting on the orders of legislative transportation committees, state troopers drastically scaled back their investigations of collisions on county roads Jan. 1.

Troopers who used to investigate the majority of noninjury accidents on county roads now are only responding to such calls at night. They are scheduled to quit investigating those wrecks July 1, although Sterk is negotiating to have the deadline extended to Sept. 1.

Sterk told commissioners he won’t have the manpower to pick up those collision investigations if he can’t hire new deputies.

His current nine-member traffic unit is working exclusively on the day shift, when most collisions occur.

Salaries for the new deputies would run more than $530,000 annually.

Sterk told commissioners that the county could qualify for $225,000 in federal grants in each of the first three years to help offset those costs.

He also said the traffic unit could support itself after that by writing citations.

Sheriff’s Inspector Larry Lindskog said the traffic unit could raise between $645,000 and $848,000 annually if each member wrote 12 citations per shift.

“Twelve tickets is absolutely attainable,” said Lindskog, a former traffic cop for the Spokane Police Department.

Commissioners are expected to make a decision on the proposal next week.

Commissioner Phil Harris warned Sterk that the traffic unit better be self-sufficient if the county moved ahead with the hirings.

“Otherwise, we’ll de-obligate the funds to pay for them and take it back,” Harris said.