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King County Sheriff's Office performance audit
September 20, 2011
The King County Sheriff’s Office provides local law enforcement service in the unincorporated area and for cities and other entities which contract with the King County for service. It also provides certain services countywide. Over time, annexations and incorporations have resulted in a higher proportion of King County residents living in cities, and fewer residents living in the unincorporated area. In recent years, the Sheriff’s budget to serve the unincorporated area has been reduced both by the reduction in the unincorporated service area due to annexations and incorporations and by county revenue shortfalls. This has resulted in a greater proportion of the Sheriff’s budget being supported by contract revenue; as of 2011, contract revenue represents over half of the Sheriff’s budget. The County Council requested this audit in the summer of 2010 as it was considering putting a proposal on the ballot to increase the sales tax in order to provide additional funding for criminal justice services. The scope of the audit was to review the operations of the King County Sheriff’s Office with an emphasis on identifying potential cost savings and efficiencies.
The Auditor has followed up on the report to evaluate implementation of our recommendations. See the most updated information below.
Of the 7 recommendations:
| DONE | 2 | Recommendations have been fully implemented. Auditor will no longer monitor. |
|---|---|---|
| PROGRESS | 0 | Recommendations are in progress or partially implemented. Auditor will continue to monitor. |
| OPEN | 0 | Recommendations remain unresolved. Auditor will continue to monitor. |
| CLOSED | 5 | Recommendations are no longer applicable. Auditor will no longer monitor. |
The County Council requested this audit in the summer of 2010 when it was considering placing a sales tax increase to fund criminal justice services on the ballot. The purpose of the audit was to review the operations of the Sheriff's Office with an emphasis on identifying efficiencies and cost savings.
We found several things related to workload and staffing: that sheriff response times have improved countywide, overtime use to cover patrol posts has increased, there are few monitoring and reporting systems to provide information on workload, performance, and staffing needs. Related to staffing cost growth, we found that the 2008 CBA accelerated the growth of staffing costs. The fiscal note transmitted with the CBA to County Council underestimated the fiscal impact of the agreement.
We made several recommendations to address issues identified in the report, including: development of a patrol staffing plan and enhancing monitoring tools to better manage staffing and workload. We also made recommendations to increase the accuracy and transparency of compensation estimates and impacts.
Reports related to this audit
Click on the image(s) below to view the follow-up reports.
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January 14, 2016 |
December 18, 2014 |
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Audit team
Larry Brubaker, Cindy Drake, and Elizabeth DuBois conducted this audit. If you have any questions or would like more information, please call the King County Auditor's Office at 206-477-1033 or contact us by email KCAO@kingcounty.gov.