Editor’s Note:
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department announced this week that it is moving the headquaters of its Mountain Detachment to Eatonville in an effort to save money. The “D-10,” as the unit is called, is responsible for policing duties throughout the south county, from 224th St to the Lewis County border.
North of 224th, the Sheriff deputies hub from their precinct house on 162nd St and Meridian Ave.
However, the D-10 does not cover Eatonville, which overwhelmingly rejected Mayor Ray Harper’s plan several months ago to disband the Eatonville Police department and contract with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
Nevertheless, the Sheriff’s deputies are now scheduled to move into the basement of the Eatonville Town Hall.
Although the move seems modest, some are not happy including Graham resident Matt Hamilton, who has sent the Mountain News the following statement:
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Hello All, Matt Hamilton here.
I am the chair of the Graham Land Use Advisory Commission, also known as the Graham-LUAC. Part of my responsibilities is to keep the public informed on issues affecting the community, and normally we can do a pretty good job of doing so .
I was stunned to learn five days ago that our only small Sheriff’s Deputy precinct at Barny’s Corners (The smallest in Pierce County) was moving 3.25 miles south – away from the population base of Graham, Orting and Roy. Over 40,000 people will see their response times grow 5 to 7 minutes. I felt this was entirely unacceptable.
And where will they be going? To a windowless, airless basement underneath Eatonville City Hall. If one community picks up an additional 20 officers, than other communities must lose in response time .
My real concern was there was no public input. This is unheard of to make such a major move and yet no public input. I attended the Eatonville City Council meeting on Monday to urge them not to sign the 5 year lease for $190,000. They voted 5-0 to sign the lease. Nobody pays $38,000 per year for five years for a substandard basement (1,600 sq. feet). It did not make sense then, nor does it now. Yesterday, I spoke with Pierce County Councilmember Jim McCune and Council Chair Joyce McDonald and they, too, are learning about this in the last week. Yesterday, I also sought out our Sheriff Pastor and I did find him in the County Executive’s lobby. I conveyed to him my concerns, and I of course got the “The Sheriffs Department has no Money” speech. That’s the one we have heard for the past 12 years.
I don’t buy that speech;, the people of the Mountain Detachment precinct (224th St south to the Nisqually River) send in millions of dollars to the Pierce County coffers each year.
This is not the way public policy should take place. I have seen the crime heat maps, and the Sheriffs decision is exactly the opposite the direction we should be going. We have the lowest ratio of officer to citizen of anyone in Pierce County. I was hoping to have three minutes of your valuable time to state my case . My goal, of course, is to get the officers and Precinct Station that we have been paying for all along.
Matt Hamilton
Chair of the Graham LUAC
Graham, WA
February 13, 2013
The Mountain News - WA 
I agree with Matt, 190 K is big spending, especially for a basement space. Spending for law enforcement is crucial, however the way this spending is promoted is not good planning.
Before we criticize the Sheriff’s office, I’d be interested to know the boundaries of their coverage area. Perhaps Eatonville is more central? Since the HQ is called Mountain Detachment, are they responsible for Mount Rainier also? Additionally, if there’s a hub on 162nd, that puts Graham between two locations. Has the Sheriff provided the change in response time? Last, but not least, perhaps sharing space with the Eatonville PD is a good thing and may lead to more coordinated efforts.
My question is: How would this increase response time? Do the deputies just sit in this “headquarters” waiting for a call or aren’t they on the streets patrolling? I’m not sure the headquarter location will increase response time unless they sit around there waiting.
My question is, how the heck is spending over 3 grand a month for any space in Eatonville reasonable??? are you kidding me? No wonder this country is broke! Morons like that!
First time I have heard about this.
Facts are that this department makes every excuse to NOT do their job. They spend immeasurable time ticketing seniors, but the crime in Eatonville is at an all time high; not only that they flat REFUSE to travel towards the mountain, or even towards Alder. That suggests that they indeed will NOT be doing their job in other areas as well. Look for crime to increase and see this department make excuses and do NOTHING to help. This department is corrupt.
Officers will only be as good as their leaders; if their leaders are corrupt then the officers will follow suit. That is a historical fact.
The Sgt. of this department plays games with citizens, please tell the community how this serves them? Please tell the community WHY their tax dollars go to pay wages for a corrupt police force, who clearly do not care about the job they are SUPPOSED to be providing for the people. Where IS the accountability for ALL Public Service Jobs?
Editor’s note:
A poster named “Facts” has asked me to post his comments. Due to a technical glitch and my editorial lethargy, his commentary was not published initially nor in a timely fashion. Hence, I am trying to correct that, and apparently it has been posted twice. Sigh. -BAS
“Facts are that this department makes every excuse to NOT do their job. They spend immeasurable time ticketing seniors, but the crime in Eatonville is at an all time high; not only that they flat REFUSE to travel towards the mountain, or even towards Alder. That suggests that they indeed will NOT be doing their job in other areas as well. Look for crime to increase and see this department make excuses and do NOTHING to help. This department is corrupt.
Officers will only be as good as their leaders; if their leaders are corrupt then the officers will follow suit. That is a historical fact.
“The Sgt. of this department plays games with citizens, please tell the community how this serves them? Please tell the community WHY their tax dollars go to pay wages for a corrupt police force, who clearly do not care about the job they are SUPPOSED to be providing for the people. Where IS the accountability for ALL Public Service Jobs?”