Every few years the subject of establishing a city police department in Deer Park
makes the rounds on social media, local papers, and even the floor of the City Council.
Since the late 70’s when the city disbanded it’s own department and contracted with
the county, well meaning people have thought that it “seems” like we could fund our
own department for what we are paying the county.

Studies done in the past that have been forgotten or disregarded have shown that to
meet expectations of the citizens for what they want in a city department, costs would
be higher and management would be complex. Setup costs would be staggering.
Want traffic control on Colville? Want a burglary investigated? Traffic accident at an
unmarked intersection? If two or three or many other situations like these are
overlapping, will response time be better? Not unless the city pays for enough
personnel to deal with these situations.

Before the city commits to spend thousands of taxpayer’s dollars on a consultant who
may or may not have the expertise, or might be a snake oil salesman who wants a job
as a police chief, discussion with former officials who have “been there and done that”
should be the starting point.

Establishing a city police department is a commendable project, but only if it can be
done to meet the expectations of the citizens who have gone into it with eyes wide
open, and that can start for free by having a conversation with folks with past
experience.

Michael Wolfe, former council member and mayor

Michael Reiter, former council member