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Deputies with the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) are sounding the alarm over a lack of staffing after the Sheriff announced lowered staffing minimums for unincorporated King County. And the local union president said deputies are being used as “political pawns.”

Mike Mansanarez, the president of the , explained on “The Jason Rantz Show” how the county is leaving unincorporated King County vulnerable to crime.

He said had a minimum of six deputies, which is now being moved down to five. had a minimum of eight, but is now being staffed at seven. 聽is staying at six because it is the busiest precinct the sheriff’s office has.

King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed a $30.2 million cut to the KCSO to address a budget deficit.

“We’ve never seen a budget cut this drastic,” he shared.

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Fewer King County Sheriff’s Office deputies means longer response times

As for the staffing shortages affecting response times, Mansanarez said that non priority one calls will get a response; it will just take more time.

“Yes, people may wait two, three hours before they get a officer for a burglary or some non priority one call,” he said.

Mansanarez believes the staffing cuts are being made to put pressure on the state legislature to allow them to increase property taxes at the county level with new legislation. He also believes it’s meant to push pressure on voters to convince them to vote for a forthcoming sales tax increase to fund law enforcement.

“We are being used as a pawn. The sheriff’s office is being used as a pawn in the political game to raise taxes. And once again, like I always said, I don’t think King County has a money issue; they have a spending issue. And that spending issue is their pet projects that they decide to reach out and spend that money on when they need to be spending the money solely on keeping people safe,” he said.

Impacting morale

Mansanarez added that the cuts have hit deputy morale.

“Morale is hurt a little bit because we’re looked upon as being pawns in a political game,” he shared. “We don’t play a political game. We protect and serve. That’s our job. And we answer 911 calls and make sure the safety of the citizens is our utmost responsibility. It does hurt that we’re getting tugged in different directions.”

Mansanarez believes the focus should be on stopping crime and fostering public safety.

“As crime rises in this area, all across the state, we need to address that and make it safe for the people that are paying the taxes that expect an officer to show up when they call 911,” he said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the聽podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on聽,听,听听补苍诲听.