There’s a push to create an ombuds office to investigate complaints about the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. Some members of the Pierce County Charter Review Commission have proposed it as an amendment to the county’s charter.
“ I think it's important to have an investigative body that's independent of the sheriff's department, whose entire work plan is developed around complaints received by the public, and to be responsive to the needs of the public,” said Kate Ginn, a Pierce County Charter Review commissioner. She’s one of the commissioners cosponsoring the amendment.
But some commissioners believe the change is unnecessary.
“ The creation of a new independent ombuds office duplicates oversight functions already performed by current internal and external review processes,” said Elizabeth Herrera, another Pierce County Charter Review commissioner, during a recent meeting.
Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank has expressed his opposition to it. An emailed statement from Swank read, in part, “As proposed, [the proposal] lacks meaningful authority and accountability measures, making it an ineffective layer of bureaucracy rather than a solution to any identified problem.”
Swank wrote that he believes the proposal would have a negative impact on recruitment.
“Adding another layer of external oversight that many prospective deputies may view as unnecessary or politically motivated could further discourage qualified candidates from pursuing a career with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office,” Swank wrote.
What would the ombuds do?
As it’s written, the amendment would create a department of sheriff ombuds, which would provide independent oversight of the “executive department of the sheriff and its employees.” It would also create a Community Advisory Committee, similar to Tacoma’s.
Troy Serad is another commissioner and cosponsor of the proposal. He said the proposal’s sponsors have purposefully left the duties of the ombuds loosely defined in order for the sheriff's department and the ombuds to establish further.
“I envision investigative reports, I envision just annual updates, recommendations certainly to the sheriff, to the executive, to the council,” Serad said.
Ginn said the ombuds would have the ability to independently investigate complaints about the executive department of the sheriff and its employees. But she was unclear on whether complaints would only go directly to the ombuds, or if the ombuds could investigate complaints made to the sheriff’s department.
Currently, complaints can be filed about the sheriff’s department on the county website. Those complaints go through an internal affairs investigation.
Next steps
If the charter review commission agrees to move forward with this amendment, Pierce County voters would get to decide whether to enact it in the November election. If voters approve it, the Pierce County Council will have to create an ordinance to implement it.
The functions, compensation and other elements of an office overseeing the employees of the sheriff’s department are a mandatory subject of bargaining for the Pierce County Deputy Sheriff's Independent Guild Local 1889.
“ I was kind of surprised that we weren't involved in the conversation or consulted about it in any way, shape, or form because it is a mandatory subject to bargain,” said Sean Darby, who is president of the guild.
When the county previously considered establishing independent oversight of the sheriff department, Darby said the guild had “an appetite” to negotiate on it. As it stands now, Darby said it’s too early to know how the guild would feel about the ombuds role.
