Letter writer: ‘I apologize’ for mistating police staffing facts | Federal Way letters

In a May 19 letter to the editor, I stated among other things that there has been no net gain in hiring of police officers from the 2006 force level. That is not correct. I misunderstood a comment made to me by a police source. There has been a great deal of hiring. As a result of attrition, the total number of city council authorized officers has not been attained. As of one month ago, there were 108 officers (excluding command level personnel) on the force out of 114 authorized by the city council. The authorized level of officers prior to Proposition 1 was 99 officers.

May 24, 2010 9:52 pm

In a May 19 letter to the editor, I stated among other things that there has been no net gain in hiring of police officers from the 2006 force level. That is not correct. I misunderstood a comment made to me by a police source. There has been a great deal of hiring. As a result of attrition, the total number of city council authorized officers has not been attained. As of one month ago, there were 108 officers (excluding command level personnel) on the force out of 114 authorized by the city council. The authorized level of officers prior to Proposition 1 was 99 officers.

I apologize to Jim Ferrell for not having the above stated facts correct in my criticism of him and making light of his comments to enhance public safety.

Bill Linehan, Federal Way