By Ellie Lande, Reporter & Designer
Driving along Vashon Highway, the two large, black Chevy Tahoes, boldly labeled with “Sheriff” are a fairly common sight. The cars lurk in the Harbor School parking lot and just north of U.S. Bank, among other places, watching for speeding and unsafe driving.
This brief view of the parked police cars, plus the intermittent police blotter in the Beachcomber, is the closest most people on Vashon get to an interaction with the on-duty law enforcement personnel.
The true range of the Vashon police expands far beyond this however — from trespassing and domestic violence, two of the most common offenses on the island, to vehicle accidents and drug abuse.
Each call or report is responded to by one or both of the on-duty deputies on Vashon at the time of the incident.
There are 14 deputies — not sheriffs, as they are commonly referred to — assigned to Vashon Island. Over the course of 24 hours, six of these deputies are present on the island, but only two patrol at a time as they operate over the course of three shifts per day.
The schedule is dictated by the squad rotation, in which three groups of deputies operate on a 5-days-on, 2-days-off, 5-days-on, 3-days-off schedule.
The deputies answer to a police sergeant, who supervises all events on Vashon during his or her specific shift, which is usually undertaken off the island. The deputies may contact their sergeant at any time to gain clarification or instructions on certain matters. The sergeant, in turn, answers to a major.
Vashon falls into Precinct 4, which is also comprised of Burien, SeaTac and White Center. In the event that an offense warrants arrest and a booking, the offender is taken off island — usually to the King County Jail in Downtown Seattle.
By land area, Vashon is about as large as the rest of Precinct 4 combined, which leads some to the conclusion that the island is in need of more deputies. However, according to deputy and Vashon resident Peter Thalhofer, the island is well-staffed.
“The workload on Vashon Island does not justify any more deputies,” he said. “In fact, Vashon is probably one of the quietest, if not the quietest, districts in all of King County. We wouldn’t even have two deputies assigned per shift if there were a bridge.”
The fact that Vashon has a ferry system and not a bridge has a significant effect on officer safety. If a dangerous situation escalates, two officers are able to deal with it more effectively than just one officer would. Further backup is not always required in simple matters, but if necessary police from other areas of the precinct may be called in to assist.
“Since there is no bridge, that means wait for the ferry or fly over backup on the helicopter,” Thalhofer said. “Sometimes the ferry backup can arrive surprisingly quickly. Sometimes it may be hours.”
Expanding upon this situation, Thalhofer detailed an event that occured in January 2015 in which approximately 30 law enforcement members were present on Vashon.
“It started in the afternoon with a man acting crazy with his vehicle,” Thalhofer said. “In the evening, he was spotted, and I was called out. There were shots fired as I was about to arrive. The man escaped and hid.”
“More and more deputies poured onto the Island, including a helicopter and K-9. The man was taken into custody without incident in the early-morning hours.”
The deputies on Vashon have seen similar success in other, more small-scale incidents, such as issuing speeding tickets and cases of domestic assault.
They also work closely with precinct or courthouse detectives to apprehend people involved with crimes such as theft and assault. They will even respond to medical emergencies.
“Just a couple weeks ago, two deputies were first on the scene with an [Automated External Defibrillator] for a man with a heart attack,” Thalhofer said. “Their quick actions likely saved the man’s life.”
Still, Vashon does come with its fair share of issues, largely owing to its size.
“Although we are staffed well for our population, Vashon-Maury covers a lot of land,” Thalhofer said. “So, it is possible to be on the wrong end of the Island when a hot call comes out.”
As for the small population size and close-knit community, Thalhofer sees it as a bit of a double-edged sword.
“Most deputies find it pleasant to work on Vashon, where the severity and frequency of crime is not as great as in the rest of Precinct 4,” he said. “It’s good because we know community members and they often feel free to tell us about crime going on. … It is also awkward to arrest somebody one week, and then buy something from that same person the next week, but that’s part of living and working on Vashon.”