King County Police Officers Guild president: ‘This would decimate the sheriff’s office’

King County Police Officers Guild Mike Mansanarez is blasting a proposal to gut the King County Sheriff’s Department by over $30 million.

“Where is this coming from? Right? The sheriff’s office is already at the bone. Now we’re going to start whittling at the bone? Because there’s no fat to be cut. There’s no meat to be cut off the bone. There’s nothing. This would decimate the sheriff’s office,” Mansanarez explained to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

In an exclusive report, “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH obtained a budget proposal memo dramatically slashing public safety and judicial services, including the King County Sheriff’s Office, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Department of Public Defense, Superior and District Courts, Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, and Jail Health Services.

King County Executive Dow Constantine’s office is blaming a $150 million budget shortfall for 2026-2027 budget on the state’s 1% cap on annual property tax increases. But under Constantine and a Democrat-controlled council, King County’s spending ballooned nearly 45%, far outpacing population growth.

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Mansanarez says it’s unthinkable that the King County Sheriff’s Office would be targeted for such dramatic cuts.

“You could probably lose up to 100 FTEs [full-time employees]. Those are officers off the street. What’s going to be affected is unincorporated King County… From Vashon to White Center to Skyway to out east, unincorporated Redmond, Woodville area, all that unincorporated land out there to the east, it would decimate us,” Mansanarez said.

The union leader blasted Constantine as being responsible, calling out wasteful funds committed to the executive’s “pet projects,” including purchasing expensive abandoned hotels to house the homeless.

“I mean, look at all the hotels that he bought that are sitting vacant around the King County area. One in Renton, two in Kent. I mean, they’re just they’re vacant. They’ve been remodeled. They’re just vacant,” Mansanarez complained.

Listen to the full discussion on how budget cuts would impact the King County Sheriff’s Office here:

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