SEATTLE — King County Executive Dow Constantine in Seattle this week proposed several initiatives that would reduce funding to the county Sheriff’s Office, shift resources from the traditional criminal system toward community-based alternatives and move away from longstanding fare enforcement on buses.
His pitch Wednesday brought immediate pushback from Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht, whose office said she was not consulted, The Seattle Times reported.
The proposals are part of the biennial budget that Constantine will present next week and were spurred by months of protests against police violence and systemic racism that have dominated the nation this summer.
And they come as the coronavirus pandemic has forced cutbacks across most branches of county government.
“We have a system that is wildly racially disproportionate, and it’s disproportionate despite what Fox News will tell you, because Black and brown people are treated differently throughout our society, including by every element of the criminal and legal system,” Constantine said.
Almost all the proposals will require the OK from the Metropolitan King County Council, which will review Constantine’s budget this fall.
Constantine is proposing cutting $4.6 million in funding that the Sheriff’s Office receives from tax on retail marijuana sales. That money would be used instead to help people vacate old marijuana-related convictions and settle fines and fees.
Chase Gallagher, a Constantine spokesperson, said the Sheriff’s Office was consulted, although the sheriff disagrees.
More savings will come from continuing to limit the county’s jail population, Constantine said.
