Life-saving services could suffer if King Co. budget is approved
Oct 6, 2016, 8:40 AM | Updated: 10:47 am
A helicopter with the KCSO Air Support Unit takes off prior to a rescue mission recently. (KCSO)
(KCSO)
Burglars could slip through the cracks if proposed cuts to the King County Prosecutors Office go through.
The proposed two-year King County budget would slash $2 million from Prosecutor Dan Satterberg’s office. He told the King County Council that break-ins would have to take a backseat to murder investigations because of the cuts.
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“Those cases are going to sit on a stack until a deputy prosecutor is done with today’s murder case and can then turn to last week’s or last month’s residential burglary case,” he explained.
The total cuts to criminal justice services in the county comes to $15 million. Those cuts also include life-saving services.
If approved as is, about $1.4 million would be saved by eliminating the King County Sheriff’s Office Air support Unit beginning in 2018. The program would be limited to search and rescue in King County only in 2017.
The five-person unit, which operates four helicopters, provides search and rescue services and is also used to assist law enforcement. King County bears the entire cost of the program. If eliminated, county officials admit it could risk lives.
“Eliminating the Air Support Unit will inevitably lead to more injuries and deaths in remote areas where a helicopter is a critical tool,” the budget proposal reads.
According to the budget proposal, the sheriff and county executive agreed that focusing on the inadequate staffing for 911 response was a higher priority.
Additionally, the county’s Marine Unit would be cut as of Jan. 1, 2018. The unit provides “police protection and rescue services on Puget Sound, Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and various rivers.”
“We are at the point where we are going to let people die because we have decided or are unable to fund a simple unit,” Urquhart told the county council Wednesday.
Denny Creek Hoist of hiker with broken leg https://t.co/gQMYgBLbLR
— KCSOAirsupport (@KCSOAirsupport) September 29, 2016
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