Sheriff & Governor Meet in White Center

Governor Christine Gregoire and Sheriff Sue Rahr will meet today (October 16th) in White Center. The purpose of the meeting will be to review the partnership between the Sheriff's Office and the Dept. of Corrections (DOC). The partnership was formed to address accountability of convicted felons still under state supervision.

In December 2006, Deputy Steve Cox was shot and killed by Raymond Porter, a convicted felon under active supervision by DOC. Porter was also an admitted gang member.

After the death of Dep. Cox, Sheriff Rahr asked Governor Gregoire and DOC to assign an investigator to White Center. Sheriff Rahr offered a detective to assist. The result was the first Neighborhood Corrections Initiative (NCI) Team within the Sheriff's Office. Their mission would be to hold persons under active DOC supervision more accountable for their actions, with a special emphasis on those with gang ties.

The Seattle Police already formed an NCI Team earlier. The success of that program forced many DOC offenders out of Seattle and into unincorporated King County. The offenders were subject to less oversight and monitoring, and therefore able to engage in criminal acts with less chance of detection.

The Sheriff's NCI Team is comprised of Sheriff's Detective Ben Wheeler, and DOC Specialist Kris Rongen. In their seven months of operation, they have made over 240 arrests.

The Governor and the Sheriff will meet with both detectives at the White Center Storefront today, beginning just after 2:30 PM.