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King County jail medical 'declines' sending arrestees to Harborview, costing officers hours of guard time, SPD says
Summary
SPD and Harborview told the Public Safety Committee that medical screening at the King County Jail is producing hundreds of "deferrals" that require officers to transport and, at times, guard arrestees for many hours. SPD reported 862 deferrals this year and gave weekend examples that cost the East Precinct 51 officer‑hours.
Seattle Police Department and Harborview Medical Center officials told the council’s Public Safety Committee on Aug. 11 that medical screening protocols at the King County Jail are resulting in large numbers of jail "deferrals" that send arrestees to emergency departments and consume officer time.
Sarah Smith, SPD’s chief operating officer, said the county contract for misdemeanor beds is approximately $25 million annually for an average of 135 misdemeanor beds, but current daily usage averages about 77 beds. Smith said that as of July 27 the department identified 862 deferrals this year and that common categories include alleged recent sexual assault (which triggers a SANE forensic exam) and reports or signs of recent drug ingestion (which require clinical observation, commonly six hours).
Chief of Patrol Rob Brown walked the committee through five examples from a single East Precinct weekend that resulted in hospital‑guard times of 8.5, 14.5, 9.5 and 16 hours for individual arrestees. "In total, on that particular weekend, East Precinct officers alone spent 51 hours total on hospital guard," Brown said, and he warned that those hours strain patrol coverage when precincts are already short staffed.
Ian Goodhue of UW Medicine, representing Harborview, noted the emergency department must follow federal EMTALA screening and stabilize patients; he said Harborview’s ED sees about 63,000 patient visits a year and that SANE exams and observation periods are clinical processes that can take many hours and are prioritized by patient acuity.
Council members and presenters agreed next steps should include a coordinated review with King County Public Health and jail health services to explore whether on‑site jail medical capacity, changes to clinical protocols or increased county medical staffing could reduce officer guard hours and improve system throughput.
