The King County Sheriff’s Office has an expansive contracting model with over a dozen cities receiving policing services through interlocal agreements. Cheol Kang, the office’s chief of the community programs and services division, said there are alluring cost-cutting measures for smaller cities. Rather than pouring resources and staff time into training, recruitment and discipline, cities can pay for, essentially, the “service delivery of a fully commissioned … deputy to serve in their community.” Those deputies work in the community day-to-day, too, he said.

Contracting out policing services has not been without snags. In Burien, for instance, the city and Sheriff’s Office have gotten into dramatic legal and political battle over the Sheriff’s Office’s refusal to enforce a camping ban.