King County sheriff's office receives scathing audit
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SEATTLE -- A scathing audit of the King County sheriff's office has found that deputies accused of misconduct and illegal use of force are falling through the cracks.
The audit and a separate consultant's report released on Tuesday both blast the office, saying front-line sergeants don't hold deputies responsible in misconduct cases.
"You know, the findings of the audit have been quite disturbing, but I wanted to say how happy I am that we had this audit done," said King County Council member Julia Patterson.
The audit also found that use-of-force investigations often don't go anywhere.
"There are clearly times when a supervisor has not done his or her job, and you have to be able to hold them accountable," said consultant Robert Davis.
As proof, the consultant showed the King County sheriff's office had only two use-of-force reports in all of 2011. In comparison, Seattle police had 159 reports and Portland police had 41 during the same time.
Sheriff Steve Strachan has only been in office for three months, but he said he has a plan to fix the problems.
"I think they are being taken. I think they are being followed up on," Strachan said. "It's just very inconsistent in terms of how they are being treated and how they are being documented."
Strachan also said he welcomes the reviews and has already established monthly use-of-force reviews, which now go to a central office.
But the attorney for Christopher Harris, Sim Osborn, says the public should beware. His client suffered brain damage when a deputy slammed him into a wall during a 2009 arrest.
The county ultimately settled the case for $10 million, but an internal affairs investigation was never opened against the deputy.
"So it was the thin blue line stepping up and protecting their own, which is a recurrent theme in these two audits," Osborn said.
For his part, Strachan said things in his department are changing.
"It's going to be different because now I am the sheriff," he said. "I'm telling you what we are going to do, and I'm asking you let me show you."
The audit and a separate consultant's report released on Tuesday both blast the office, saying front-line sergeants don't hold deputies responsible in misconduct cases.
"You know, the findings of the audit have been quite disturbing, but I wanted to say how happy I am that we had this audit done," said King County Council member Julia Patterson.
The audit also found that use-of-force investigations often don't go anywhere.
"There are clearly times when a supervisor has not done his or her job, and you have to be able to hold them accountable," said consultant Robert Davis.
As proof, the consultant showed the King County sheriff's office had only two use-of-force reports in all of 2011. In comparison, Seattle police had 159 reports and Portland police had 41 during the same time.
Sheriff Steve Strachan has only been in office for three months, but he said he has a plan to fix the problems.
"I think they are being taken. I think they are being followed up on," Strachan said. "It's just very inconsistent in terms of how they are being treated and how they are being documented."
Strachan also said he welcomes the reviews and has already established monthly use-of-force reviews, which now go to a central office.
But the attorney for Christopher Harris, Sim Osborn, says the public should beware. His client suffered brain damage when a deputy slammed him into a wall during a 2009 arrest.
The county ultimately settled the case for $10 million, but an internal affairs investigation was never opened against the deputy.
"So it was the thin blue line stepping up and protecting their own, which is a recurrent theme in these two audits," Osborn said.
For his part, Strachan said things in his department are changing.
"It's going to be different because now I am the sheriff," he said. "I'm telling you what we are going to do, and I'm asking you let me show you."
All police departments should be audited like this. Until the issues and problems are identified and brought to the surface, they will never get changed. There are alot of good cops out there, and alot of bad ones. A better job must be done to improve the integrity of all police departments.  The type of power and authority that police officers have over the general public should not be taken lightly.Â
Blood is in the water and Sharks are circling... oh wait two wow that is appalling *sarcasm!*
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Compared to Seattle they are much cleaner... but I guess hanging the officers that took an oath to protect the public from criminals. Seriously with the amount of griping people do about the police they seem to think we would be better off without police all together if all they want to do is look at everything they do under such a LARGE microscope....
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"But the attorney for Christopher Harris, Sim Osborn, says the public should beware. His client suffered brain damage when a deputy slammed him into a wall during a 2009 arrest." Â http://www.komonews.com/news/local/114579679.html
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This attorney I guess just wanted his name in the headlines again...by his legal resume he is quiet the ambulance chaser http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/98121-wa-simeon-osborn-14527.html and that case was settled and no charges came to the officer so obviously the family did not blame the officer in that case.... I fail to see why they bring up something from over three years ago... could it be because they have not had any serious problems..... NAAAAHHH!!!!
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@Freespeech "that case was settled and no charges came to the officer so obviously the family did not blame the officer in that case"
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They settled for $10 million, I think money will buy you anything. Obviously there WAS fault on the part of the officer.
So 2 findings equals a "Scathing Audit"? Nice headline KOMO. And this unfair comparison of King County Police to the Seattle and Portland Police is ridiculous. Seattle and Portland are high density population centers where all the riff-raff hangs out so there are going to be a higher number of criminals whining that they got their hand slapped a little too hard when arrested. Where does the King County Police do most of their work? Out in the rural communities, in the unincorporated ares, and under contract with small towns. Yes real fair comparison. This constant witch hunt in our law enforcement departments needs to stop.Â
 @ErichBritton The two findings, in and of themselves were "scathing". You do not need 100 audits to find the same thing. The fact that both audits were scathing should be a red flag and spur reforms.
Cops can't be trusted, anymore.
 @SandyBeach suggest you move to mexico then if you hate the cops so much here... folks like you are likely the ones also going woisme  where are the police to protect me when you need them....gimme a break
 @Freespeech Just because another place is worse than Seattle doesn't make the Seattle police force good. That is like comparing a man who is not working and living off of his girlfriend to another man who is not working and is homeless. They are both bums!
@lovinTruth @Freespeech 100% on!
 @Freespeech Thumbs down. Fix what is broken, don't jump from the frying pan into the fire.
 @Freespeech It is sad that most think the police have a responsibility to protect them. That, is an incorrect assumption on their part.. as they are not responsible for public safety. They are, however, responsible for upholding the laws that are on the books..Â
People need to take responsibility for their own safety, and for their own actions.. not blame others when things go bad..
It is unbelievable that any police force is compared favorably to the Portland Police force. It makes more sense that Portland is better at hiding the bodies.
Right on SkingCoWa you couldn't have hit the nail on the head any better, and one thing else there good at, is out on Camano Island coming on the island after 11:00 pm be ready the Sheriff out here are aloud the profile anyone after 11:00 any body out after that is a drunk and they pull just about every car over for anything just to get there stinking face in your window, there are actually citizens out there that are getting home from work just like anyone that gets off work at 5:00 profiling should be a law too.
They didn't get no "scathing audit" under former Sheriff Sue Rahr! Maybe there are some things (like integrity?) that women actually do better! (And I am a man, BTW.)
 @JLS1950 Ummmmm... you think they are talking about the last 3 months' of activity?  Says right in the story - "As proof, the consultant showed the King County sheriff's office had only two use-of-force reports in all of 2011. In comparison, Seattle police had 159 reports and Portland police had 41 during the same time." Â
 @Datsuyama Maybe, as the article implies, the complaints are not being logged and are swept under the rug.
 @Datsuyama But Strachan has been running the day to day operations of the Sheriff's Office since January of 2011, at least according to the Seattle P-I.  So he is just as responsible for this scathing audit.http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/2012/07/24/audit-finds-significant-issues-with-sheriffs-office/
 @Glassman I get that.  What I'm saying is, it has nothing to do with the current Sheriff as JLS1950 is stating above.  These incidents are from Rahr's reign as KC Sheriff.Â
Guess there is a difference between KCS and SPD. At least KCS is actually willing to fix things!
@Zoso Haha!!! You think so do ya?
 @Zoso At least when speaking to the press, eh? Now, let's see if there's any follow through.
Now we know the REAL reason Sheriff Sue Rahr left the department.
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Wow, SkankyCoward or whatever your name is. Sounds like someone got a ticket and couldn't whine their way out of it. Your impartial attitude truly supports your post, whatever it was, and doesn't at all make you sound like a bitter little maggot.
With all the crap they have to put up with from the politicians and the judges letting the bad guys go, I surprised there isn't more cops taking the law into their own hands. These guys have a hero's mentality and want to do what's right for everyone (for the most part).
 @Magic 8 Ball However, many of them cause their own problems. My Dad was a cop and often told me how corrupt many of the cops he worked with were. But, if he tried to do anything about it, he would be the one to get into trouble.
I really hope the Earth will be cleansed soon...
Whatever cops are not hero's.
 @SkingCoWa I disagree.....would you lay your life on the line for a complete stranger? Would you sacrifice your life to protect another?Â
 @Controlled-Insanity Answer #1: Yes. Answer #2. Show me a case where a local cop willingly and knowingly sacrificed their life to protect another.
 @SkingCoWa I know some that truly are.
 @Datsuyama Then they need to speak out against the ones that arean't
 @SkingCoWa Most of them anyway...
Looks like KOMO is done beating up SPD, now to move on to KCSO.
Not any better than the SPD!!!!!...