KC Sheriff’s Deputies Threaten Mass Exodus from Burien

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May 5, 2024

Significant gap between Burien Police narrative and "lived experience" of Burienites.

by Burien-News Staff.Burien-News has obtained a copy of a letter signed by Burien police officers and addressed to the Burien City Council, expressing a "vote of no confidence in City Manager Adolfo Bailon and Mayor Kevin Schilling."In the letter, officers claim that “there have been significant drops in crime.” However, according to most Burien residents and business owners, this is not consistent with their "lived experience" in Burien. Here is the letter:

Esteemed councilmen and women:

We, the officers of Burien Police Department, write to you today to express our extreme disappointment with the recent decision of the city to request removal of Ted Boe as the Chief of Burien PD.

Ted has been our chief for the majority of the last decade and has done nothing but improve this worksite for your city. In addition to significant drops in crime and increase in proactive activity, Ted has put Burien on the map as the premier agency for mental health alternatives to police interaction with our neighbors in crisis. He has motivated and developed officers in this city to the extent that, prior to this decision, Burien had the highest ratio of officers attempting to get into your contract than leave it countywide.

This action will result in the immediate transfer for request of countless years of experience from the city to more supportive organizations within our county. On top of this, nobody but the least senior deputies and sergeants will be forced to work in a place that does not support constitutional policing by their officers, which historically results in lower proactive policing and higher crime.

For all of these reasons, this letter serves as an express vote of no confidence in City Manager Adolfo Bailon and Mayor Kevin Schilling.

In the meantime, we will continue to pour our hearts and efforts into serving the citizens of Burien as long as we are still assigned here. Thank you to the rest of the community we serve for your continued support of our public safety efforts.

- (signed by Burien Police Officers)

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Letter from Burien Police Officers to Burien City Council (5/4/24)[/caption]Vandalism in the downtown core, assaults, murders, open air drug use and trafficking, mobile prostitution and human trafficking, have all been witnessed and presented at city council meetings, in emails to the council, business gatherings, public meetings, and also published in the media.Even in front of the City Hall, people must walk past open air drug use and dealing by people who appear to experience no criminal consequence. Police have told residents and business owners that "they must enforce the trespass laws on their own property."Multiple parents and families have expressed publicly that they "no longer feel safe allowing their children to play in their own front yard."Is crime actually down, or have Burien residents become apathetic because they no longer believe that reporting crime has any effect?In light of the significant gap between the verbiage of this letter and the lived experience of Burien residents, one must ask - are these law enforcement officers under any pressure from County Executive Dow Constantine, King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall, and/or Chief Ted Boe?Burien Crime Statistics from 2008 -2021:[caption id="attachment_14992" align="aligncenter" width="661"]

2021 City of Burien Crime Statistics - P1 (courtesy of Burien Business Association)[/caption][caption id="attachment_14993" align="aligncenter" width="769"]