KING COUNTY, Wash. — King County Councilmember, and current candidate for King County Executive, Claudia Balducci, is proposing new funding to tackle retail crime.
Balducci wants to establish a new retail crimes task force that would bring in two full-time detectives and one full-time prosecutor to focus on retail thefts.
The money, she says, could come from the county’s newly adopted Safe and Stable Communities Sales Tax, which was established to prevent cuts to public safety services.
“We’re losing grocery shops,” she said. “We are losing small shops and people are losing their jobs and we can do better.”
The proposal comes as Fred Meyer announces it will close a handful of stores across the Puget Sound partially due to thefts.
“Despite an impactful partnership with local law enforcement, theft and regulatory pressures still remain significant challenges,” a Fred Meyer spokesperson wrote to KIRO 7. ”We have increased our safety investment by nearly 50% and are hopeful that, in partnership with city officials, we will continue to see positive momentum at our other store locations."
Balducci announced the proposal Thursday, alongside Kent Mayor Dana Ralph and Former King County Sheriff Sue Rahr.
Rahr said retail theft is a regional problem that requires a regional approach.
“If every jurisdiction just operates independently, it’s less efficient,” she said. “It creates redundant work, and it wastes limited resources.”
The King County Prosecutors’ Office brought on a temporary, second full-time prosecutor to focus on retail crime, but the work is being funded by a grant that is running out.
The office said the extra position has been successful, helping the office more than double its number of retail theft cases filed this year compared to the annual average over the last four years.
“Our officers are on the ground doing the work, and what has historically been happening outside of this pilot, is once those cases get pushed up to King County, there aren’t the resources to then prosecute,” Ralph said.
Balducci estimates the three positions would cost a total of roughly $600,000 per year.
“We’ve talked about using (the sales tax revenue) to avert cuts in our public safety agencies,” Balducci said. “There would still be $19 million a year. So we’re talking about taking about $600,000 out of 19 million.”
The proposal will still need to be voted on with the county budget this fall. If it moves forward, Balducci said she’d like to see it up and running by early next year.
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