King County Sheriff Steve Strachan responded to the King County Council's Government Accountability, Oversight and Financial Performance Committee Tuesday morning regarding an audit ordered of the Sheriff's Office oversight and accountability procedures.
The audit report made 16 recommendations for the King County Sheriff's Office Internal Investigations Unit and newly established Office of Law Enforcement Oversight.
Sheriff Strachan responded by saying he "welcomed the feedback and has learned from this audit." Sheriff Strachan concurred with the recommendations and noted that many of the issues have already been identified and changes were in process.
In a statement to the committee Sheriff Strachan said, "The report confirms that we are paying attention to the right things, we are making progress, and we have more work to do as we take our department to the next level."
The Sheriff also said that a number of the issues identified are working conditions that can only be changed through collective bargaining. He said, "I will continue to work with the Police Officers Guild and our other labor groups to create a partnership that's fair to them and fair to the public."
The Sheriff presented a detailed matrix of plans, actions items, and timelines for addressing the audit recommendations.
The Sheriff also asked the committee to consider scheduling a progress review in the next few months to review the current status and the changes that have been made.