Amid an uptick in crime and a severe shortage of sheriff’s deputies, a Washington county council member is demanding that a vaccine mandate for law enforcement as a condition of employment be dropped.
As 39 officers have been fired and 10 more await their termination decision, King County Councilman Reagan Dunn said the mandate should be lifted, as it is creating a “public safety crisis.”
“I cannot remember a time when the Sheriff’s Office has seen such significant staffing shortages, all happening with a backdrop of record murders and violent crime occurring right now in King county,” Dunn wrote in a letter to the King County Executive Office on Tuesday asking for the mandate to be lifted.
Violent crime reports for the area show a 20% increase over the last year, with aggravated assault specifically rising 24% — the highest in 10 years.
Dunn, who is also running for Washington’s 8th Congressional District, said 25% of King County Sheriff’s Department positions are currently vacant or undeployable. The Seattle Police Department reported that 357 officers have left over the last two years.
“Maybe [the vaccine mandate] made sense months ago at the height of the delta wave or the top of the omicron wave, but it doesn’t make sense today,” Dunn said.
MASKS NO LONGER REQUIRED ON CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES
Epidemiologist Dr. Ali Mokdad with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington told KIRO that the risk posed by COVID-19 no longer justifies the mandate.
“We are in a much better position, and we don’t need these mandates,” Mokdad said. “During delta, we all said we need the mandate. So omicron has changed this virus and has moved this pandemic to an endemic phase.”
King County does not have plans to lift the mandate, stating that people who are not fully vaccinated are three times more likely to catch the coronavirus than those who have received boosters and 24 times more likely to be hospitalized.
“Any employee who wishes to return to public service in King County may be able to do so provided they meet the requirements of employment, which is to provide proof of vaccination,” King County spokesman Chase Gallagher said in a statement. “COVID killed more than 450 police officers across the country in 2021, and we know the best way to prevent that number from increasing is with the safe, effective COVID vaccine.”
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Gallagher added that King County is committed to filling the 106 Sheriff’s Department vacancies, offering recruitment bonuses of up to $15,000 for lateral hires.
