“Move into town” sheriff says

Thurston County Sheriff Dan Kimball has advice for people moving into Thurston County.   “Move into one of the towns,” he said. 

Kimball said his agency can’t police the county adequately with the cuts he has been forced to make.   The cities have their own police force, the sheriff pointed out.

Kimball has been told to cut $2 million out of his budget without touching any of the jail staff.  To do that, he says, he has to cut about a third of his deputies.   Kimball made those remarks Monday night on KING TV.  He said his staff can’t respond to minor problems, and he’s concerned that they may get to major calls too late.

The sheriff went on to say that people new to the county should move into the cities where they have police services.

I have news for Sheriff Kimball.   His agency is a rural police department that has major urban areas to serve.   Instead of telling people to move into the cities, he should be working with the cities of Olympia,  Lacey and Tumwater to encourage them to annex urban areas adjacent to the city boundaries.   That way his department can go about their business of being a rural police agency while urban cities provide service to the newly annexed areas.