成人X站

The city of Edmonds is facing a $20 million budget deficit and all options are open to close that gap, including eliminating its police department and contracting with either the King County or Snohomish County Sheriff鈥檚 Office for police services.

Jason Rantz, host of “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH broke the story and pointed out many taxpayers in the city had no idea the proposal was under consideration.

Rantz Exclusive: City of Edmonds may close police department; officers are livid, public in the dark

Edmonds resident Barbara Olendorf is hopeful for another solution.

“I didn鈥檛 know they were having that kind of trouble, but I don鈥檛 think getting rid of the police department is the answer,” she told 成人X站 Newsradio Monday. “There鈥檚 got to be a better way.”

The biggest concern for residents is response times. Some fear they will soar and that their community will be less safe.

鈥淚 lived in an area where we didn鈥檛 have local police,” Edmonds resident Kim Becker said. “The response time was slower. It鈥檚 not personal. You get to know your local police and that鈥檚 really a good thing.”

Edmonds resident Dave Grout said a lack of police could put his safety at risk.

鈥淚 think we should maintain an in-town police department,” he told 成人X站 Newsradio. “I think they generally do a good job. If they did away with the police department, I would feel less safe.”

More from James Lynch: Residents suspect a serial dog killer on Whidbey Island

Rantz reported the Edmonds Police Association agrees and is outraged over the proposal, warning the move would negatively impact the quality of police services for residents. And the mere thought of eliminating the department has some Edmonds officers already considering their options.

鈥淚 would say we have a good amount of officers who are already looking at this time when there lots of agencies with lateral bonuses, with vacancies,” Edmonds Police Officers鈥� Union President Will Morris told Jason Rantz. “How long do you wait to move when you can start building seniority and being in a new city that鈥檚 not having the financial struggles that we鈥檙e having?鈥�

Olendorf believes the city is making a mistake.

“This is a wonderful town and that鈥檚 part of it,” she said. “We have a good police department and I think we need to keep them.”

Contributing: Jason Rantz, KTTH and Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest

James Lynch is a reporter at 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of James鈥� stories聽here. Follow James on聽, or email him聽here.