Kirkland Police staffing levels are the lowest on the Eastside. Is Public Safety still Kirkland’s highest priority?
As the Kirkland City Council looks for more ways to trim the City budget, some in City Hall are pointing to Public Safety as a place to cut.
According to the October 13, 2008 City of Kirkland Memorandum on Local and Regional Jail Planning, “The Kirkland Police Department currently has the lowest ratio of officers per thousand of population of any of our partner cities in the NECC consortium.” The North/East Cities (NECC) consortium is made up of the cities of Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Shoreline and Kirkland, representing all 22 north and east cities in King County.
A comparison of Kirkland and other cities police staffing levels. Please see the notes at end of this article for additional information about the sworn FTEs/1000 metric.
This piece of information is disturbing when viewed in the light of future budget cuts being planned at City Hall. Some are eying Public Safety as the next place to cut services as the economy continues to contract — a move that would spare other departments deep cuts in personnel. Given the fact that Kirkland already has the lowest levels of police staffing in the area, is Public Safety where we should be cutting?
UPDATE: The article, Crime Trends on the Eastside has comparative statistics on property crimes and violent crimes committed in Kirkland, Bothell, Redmond and Bellevue.
During the painful budget rounds of late 2008, the Kirkland Police and Fire Departments were spared much of the pain of the City Council’s efforts to eliminate a projected deficit of $19 million through budget cuts and tax increases.
Is cutting Public Safety in the best interests of the citizens of Kirkland? Is Public Safety in Kirkland no longer our top priority? If not, what is more important?
Government’s highest priority
The single most important function of a government is to protect its citizenry. All other functions of government — street sweeping, planning, even our beloved parks — are secondary to Public Safety. There is no service the government can provide which is more important than the services provided by our police and fire departments.
But is Kirkland properly funding these most important departments? Are we paying more attention to the many optional (and often popular) programs we have in our city at the expense of the few departments we really need?
This issue is at the forefront of the budget debate because Public Safety represents a significant portion of the total City budget.
The effect of Annexation on Police Staffing Levels
The issue of police staffing is also affecting the debate over how Kirkland should proceed with the annexation study.
Under the latest annexation plan, the police department would hire 44 new officers for the annexation area. The combined Kirkland + PAA police department would result in a lowering of Kirkland’s sworn FTEs/1000 population from 1.47 to 1.40.
Current police service levels in the Potential Annexation Area (PAA) are woeful as King County has all but abandoned the area while encouraging cities like Kirkland and Bothell to consider annexation as a way of better providing urban services to these parts of unincorporated King County.
In 2006, the Kirkland Police Department developed a plan to provide Kirkland-level police services to the PAA. The plan included adding 4 new police patrol districts.
Later, in an effort to reduce the costs of annexation, the Kirkland Police Department was asked to reconsider their staffing plans. The result of this effort was the elimination of 1 patrol district in the PAA. Unfortunately, this new 3 patrol district plan also required the realignment of existing City patrol districts, thus reducing service levels for existing Kirkland citizens.
The reduced police service plan is now a part of the new “base case” being studied for annexation. It was previously considered an “alternative service delivery” scenario, but when the city found annexation wasn’t feasible, what was then called the alternative scenario became the new base case for annexation — a redefinition and down-grade of services in the annexation plan. It is this new lower level of service plan that the City Council is now considering.
If adopted by the City Council, the latest annexation plan also breaks a long-standing promise to Kirkland citizens. The City Council has repeatedly promised Kirkland citizens that annexation will have “no negative impact” on Kirkland’s service levels. Some on the City Council now appear quite ready to break that promise.
As far back as 2006, Kirkland City Councilmembers repeatedly told the people of Kirkland that they were studying annexation to make sure it would not impact the existing city. These promises were repeated in front of neighborhood associations across the city. Then in 2008, the City Council no longer was speaking in such terms as it became clear that annexation would indeed exact a heavy toll from Kirkland.
Annexation, as it is re-defined today, is significantly altered from what the people of Kirkland were told back in 2007. The last public meetings on annexation were held by the City in the fall of 2007.
At the March 3, 2009 City Council meeting, Councilmember Jessica Greenway questioned how Kirkland would ever be able to bring the police service levels back up to pre-annexation levels. In previous study sessions, Coucnilmembers Tom Hodgson and Dave Asher have both expressed concerns that past annexations in Kirkland had lowered the entire city’s police service levels and they have never returned to their previous levels.
If Kirkland’s service levels are going to decline, the City Council needs to level with Kirkland. If annexation will decrease police service levels, this needs to be publicly discussed as it is in direct conflict with previous statements made by the City Council.
Notes:
Some argue that the ratio of sworn police officers to population does not accurately tell the full story of police service and that staffing decisions should not be made on this metric alone. Many factors such as crime rate and how the department is organized need to be considered.
However, when comparing police staffing levels from different cities, the consensus is that the FTEs/1000 metric is the only real way to compare “apples to apples.” In a comparison with our neighboring cities, Kirkland has the lowest level of sworn officers per 1000 population.
_____
In 2005, the City produced an annexation study under a different set of serivice delivery assumptions. The 2005 Fiscal Analysis of Kirkland’s Potential Annexation Area showed the annexation area needing even higher levels of police staffing (77.50 police FTEs). In 2007, the City changed its methodology in studying annexation which treated Kirkland+PAA as one larger city rather than separately, thus increasing efficiencies and reducing staffing needs. All studies since 2007 have been based upon this more efficient use of staffing as the 2005 methodology was found to not accurately represent a realistic post-annexation picture.
_____
As always, you are encouraged to please review the entire video from the City of Kirkland website to understand the complete context in which the quoted statements by City Councilmembers were made.
Print This Article
Posted by Admin on Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Filed under Features · Tagged with Annexation, Budget, City Council, PAA, Police, Public Safety, Taxes
Print This Article
Related Stories:
|
|
|
|
|
Excellent article. When the Police Chief was asked to reconsider the staffing requirements in the PAA dropping the number of patrols from 4 to 3, his job was in jeopardy. He did it or else. Several Councilmembers were responsible for the action. How could they insist lowering public safety service levels when they had promised the citizens they would not do so?
The reasons are political and economical.
Even without annexation, the public safety departments of Fire and Police are used as pawns in the city budget. Council generates false and unnecessary budget shortfalls in Fire and Police by funding other non-essential programs first because they need a public safety, an essential service, to be put on the ballot. They need an essential service issue on the ballot instead of a non-essential one. When the Council says they put Fire and Police first, ask them why it’s on the ballot?
In the case of annexation, the Police Department was put under pressure to say they could handle annexation with a bare bones budget: never mind if the service level was not up to Kirkland standards and may, just may, jeapordize safety. However the Council did it anyway because some irresponsible County and Kirkland Councilmembers are pushing for annexation.
Annexation becomes a reason to raise taxes. Councilmembers know they can put the public safety shortfall on the ballot later. Council wants the public to make up for their political decision not to fund the police in the first place. That’s wrong. They should fund public safety first and not accept a reduction of service that is falsely created for someone’s political agenda.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
A fair and balanced article and I agree with Bob. These statistics are not published or at least I haven’t seen them before if they are. I watch police funding closely and Kirkland is not staffed as highly as it should be, just look at Bothell and Bellevue. For Kirkland to get to their levels of staffing it would take millions of dollars and we all know Kirkland is broke. The police here do well with less because they have to. The key in this story is the police department is being told they have to lower their service estimates because if they don’t then the annex can’t go on. The wrong people are making up staffing levels for cops and the department is a pawn in somebody elses game.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Interesting. I wonder if “sworn officers” includes correction officers, of which Kirkland has a few – and the other cities do not.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
How is our violent crime rate compared to these other places? Are we really less safe, or do some just like to spend more because it makes them feel they are doing something better. Spending more on police does not equate to greater public safety, though it certainly would if the area itself were increasing in violent crime.
Unfortunately, we rarely read about the police preventing a crime, but they certainly can help us lock up those who do commit them to prevent them from committing more.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I think the focus should be on the other departments, not on fire and police. It seems the single most important function of our City Government is not to protect its citizenry but to protect itself.
Construction and permit applications are at the lowest levels in years. Has the number of FTE’s in the Planning and Building departments been reduced?
I have watched the city landscape crews (I think it is the Parks Department) tearing out and replacing the vegetation in the median planting strip at the South end of 108th Ave NE, at the entrance to the city. What a boondoggle. The project took several months. One crew would come out in the morning and spend one to two hours putting up two signs to tell you that men are working. Then some time later several people would show up (and sometimes not) to take out the vegetation, put in new dirt and plant new plants. They have several hundred man-hours in a project that any private landscaping company would have done in less than a hundred. Now, of course, this will have to weeded and fertilized on a regular basis wasting thousands more of the taxpayers’ dollars. They should have put in artificial grass as they have on some of the other median dividers on 108th.
The city is still doling out dollars to the neighborhood associations for pet projects, like a new streetlight or a bench to sit on. I was asked to vote on which of the projects I liked best in my neighborhood and I did not see any that were necessary or would contribute to the quality of our life.
We need a fiscally responsible City Council and I am counting the days until the next election.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Marv, we’re off topic but I couldn’t disagree more regarding the 108th landscaping. Leaving aside your hyperbole and bias, I find the city’s use of real vegetation to be an asset to this gateway to Kirkland. Hard to say yet, but it appears they’ve used native plants that reflect the aesthetic of the nearby park. These will fill in and be largely sustainable. Weeding will be required in the meantime, but that will grow less over the years. Fake grass would have looked incongruous there. Uphill it is fine where it is used in small patches.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Personally, I think this is a “sky is falling” article and a editorial on annexation behind cloak and dagger. Main issues I have is (1.) we are literally talking the difference of 1/3 of an FTE between best case and worst case. (2.) It does not take into account a lot of things like crime rate, commercial zones, geographic area covered (populaiton isn’t the only measure) and police programs being funded like DARE or a city jail.
Has anyone considered that maybe we should be praising our city and police chief for running a tight ship! Seems most on this blog are interested n the city shaving it’s budget (Bob in particular), here may be one department that runs lean and mean.
(3.) Do any of us feel there is a crime problem or a rising problem in Kirkland or the PAA (which currently is patrolled by a total of 2 officers on any shift). Most people I speak to seem to feel Kirkland has a strong police presence and is a safe city.
Bob says the police chief’s job was threatened when he was asked to reconsider the officers to patrol the PAA, I’d like to see his documentation–sounds like hearsay to me.
And re: annexation, Bothell has the highest per capita rates and yet they can make annexation pencil. Interesting.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
So the PAA would be happy with only 2 police officers? I don’t think so. Crime is a rising problem in Kirkland as the recent car jackings and robberies evidence.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
What is it with you Kirkland Owes Us crowd. Some of you criticize every word that anyone says that shows the real impact of annexation on Kirkland. Police departments are understaffed in Kirkland and you want to pretend that the facts don’t mean anything. You always have excuses for why we should dismiss anything you don’t like. Your bias is painted loud and clear. You seem to think we owe you something and you are out to extract your pound of flesh from us. I see through your arguments and I bet others do too. Incorporation or Bothell or Redmond or Woodinville annexing the PAA would never be acceptable for you because you only want to be a part of Kirkland — even if it means less police service than other cities can provide! If other cities like Bothell had double the police force Kirkland had and only half the tax rate you would still fight to be in Kirkland. I have watched the financial studies of annexation for a long time and it is the finances of annexation that I have been opposed to. You deserve better services and those may or may not come from Kirkland – but only if it can be financially sound.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I share your sentiment that government’s first priority is to the safety of it’s citizen. Cami has some compelling points about that there isn’t much difference between the 1.47 and 1.4 police officer per thousand. There are always examples of crime that is missed by law enforcement but the stats in crime seem pretty comparable to other Eastside cities in an area that generally has a pretty high standard of living. The one exception is the high number of drunk drivers but perhaps it is that Kirkland is aggressive in catching these people (which is a good thing).
If you are going to highlight public safety you should explore the fire department. I mentioned in another post that I read the SOBA proposal for Bothell and it clearly indicated it was only going to staff 2 out of the 4 fire stations. What does this mean? I know that Kirkland Fire Department provides fire protection to Finn Hill and Totem Lake. Does it mean the Kirkland will still have fire stations in the PAA? Who pays for it? If Kirkland loses money for fire protection will they close down fire stations? I haven’t been able to find out any answers on line yet so I’m hoping somebody knows. I haven’t called the police before but called the fire department twice!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Interesting editorial, however I’ve got a bone to pick with it’s general premise.
For instance, in the notes section it’s stated that, “when comparing police staffing levels from different cities, the consensus is that the FTEs/1000 metric is the only real way to compare “apples to apples.”
Really, who exactly determined this “consensus” you point to to bolster your argument?
Here’s some food for thought on staffing levels, as the IACP document points out, determining staffing levels is much more complex. For instance, day time population (the amount of people working and shopping during the day) is another factor along with general population concentration and even topography of the are in question. Police departments allocate resources as needed. Perhaps Kirkland’s population from day to night is such that the chief is able to be more efficient with his staffing levels. Don’t make the assumption that there’s always X number of cops on the streets at any given time.
Here’s a good link to educate yourself on how Kirkland’s crime stats compare to other cities: http://www.wacrimestats.net/
On the rant in the comments section about “Kirkland owing the PAA services,” the reason PAA residents feel that way is from the unarguable fact that Kirkland took all the viable retail via previous annexations leaving the PAA neighborhoods with no sustainable sales tax base for incorporation. Why do you think the PAA is assigned to Kirkland by the regional boundary review board? That said, considering how FUBAR the Kirkland finances and future tax and service level outlook is, with or without the PAA, I’d wager a guess that most in the PAA would actually prefer annexation to Bothell.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hi Finn,
You make some excellent points and thank you for the link. To answer your question, “Really, who exactly determined this “consensus” you point to to bolster your argument?” I spoke with the police departments of Kirkland, Bothell, Bellevue and Redmond. I spoke with communications officers from each police department. My conversations with members of Kirkland’s police department have lead to discussions about how FTEs/1000 population is not necessarily an accurate metric for determining staffing levels. I agree. When I addressed this issue to the officers with whom I spoke from other three cities, there was agreement. When I asked if there was a better metric by which to compare staffing levels from different cities, they said FTEs/1000 population was the only “apples to apples” comparison (a term used by one of the officers with whom I spoke).
Your point about day-time population of a city vs. night-time population being a determining factor in police staffing is a good one. The Redmond police department, for example, explained how their city population fluctuates dramatically depending on the time of day. Redmond has a population of roughly 50,000, however, during the day the number of total people in the city swells to over 100,000 because Redmond has about 82,000 jobs. The day-time population is higher because people from other cities commute to Redmond for work. This affects staffing levels in the police department.
Your history of previous annexations is correct, and I agree with the appropriate use of FUBAR when describing Kirkland’s finances and future tax and service level outlook. My “rant” above was based upon my realization that some in the PAA have shifted their stance on annexation now that Bothell has entered the ring as a contender. It seems that for many, the issue of providing services to those who need them is no longer the goal. If providing services were still the goal, then Bothell would be the clear winner as it can do so more effectively as the police staffing levels show. Bothell as expressed that they are ready, willing and able to annex if Kirkland would release the PAA.
The goal of some in the PAA has now evidently shifted away from getting the most services for the least amount of money to being annexed by Kirkland despite the FUBAR condition the city’s finances are in. Finances are no longer a part of the equation if you only have one option to consider: Kirkland or nothing.
Kirkland has redefined every aspect of annexation in a drive by some to force the issue. Police staffing is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Kirkland levels of service that will be dramatically impacted by annexation. Taxes will most assuredly rise if annexation were to be approved.
If you recall, annexation required a new Public Safety facility. That has now been scratched – because finances dictate what we will need. The experts studies and recommendations of the experts are thrown out and we make decisions based upon different criteria. Annexation is a political football that has Kirkland chasing $40 million in State funding – a pot of gold from the State that turns into a pumpkin on January 2, 2010. Everything you once knew about annexation is no longer valid. The City of Kirkland has re-defined every aspect of what the public was told it would be so I suggest that anyone interested in learning more about annexation, read what the Council has studied on the subject since November 2008.
Thank you for your comments.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Thanks for the clarification on where you got your consensus, Rob. I have heard similar information from the rank and file I know in local law enforcement and will only add that public safety funding is always very political.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0