The city’s Public Safety Committee voted to place agenda bill AB 25-076, an interagency agreement with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, on the consent calendar after hearing from Police Chief Hirase that the contract would let the department recover some officer time for targeted enforcement of DUIs, seat-belt use and motorcycle violations.

Police Chief Hirase told the committee the commission “utilizes grant money and can reimburse some of our overtime or even our regular time” for special emphasis patrols, and said the department wants to use the agreement to focus on illegal use of electric motorcycles and other problem areas. “I would still like to push through and get this done even though we have a month because that month is still vital,” Hirase said.

Hirase described recent local incidents to underline the need for focused enforcement: “Over the last 2 weeks, we arrested an individual for DUI and booked him into jail. 6 days later, we arrested that same individual for DUI in the same area.” He also said the department made four DUI arrests in roughly three weeks in the same neighborhood.

The agenda bill lists a maximum of $3,187. Chief Hirase said he did not expect substantial reimbursement for the final month of the current contract but described historical program sizes: “I wanna say it’s about 340,000, give or take, that is divvied up among the agencies,” and recalled that when he last used the program in Enumclaw the department recovered roughly $2,900–$3,000.

Committee chair Rob Wotton asked whether the agreement should go on the regular or consent agenda. Councilmember Christiansen said she was “agreeable to putting it on consent,” and Councilmember Cotton seconded the placement; the chair said the majority moved the bill to consent. The committee indicated staff will bring the new interagency agreement for the 2025–26 period to a future meeting for continued participation.

Hirase outlined operational and training requirements tied to the grant. He said agencies running overtime emphasis detail shifts typically staff four-hour shifts and that officers must keep certifications current for DUI enforcement, including Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) refresher training, before some reimbursements apply.

No public comment was offered on the item during the meeting. The committee approved the minutes from Aug. 4, 2025, and moved AB 25-076 to the consent calendar without further amendment.

The city will record and post the committee meeting; the police department expects to return with the updated 2025–26 interagency agreement for committee review when it is available.