King County’s Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO) on Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2024 applauded Monday’s decision by King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall to refuse enforcement of a Burien ordinance that criminalizes homelessness, and to seek relief in federal court declaring the code unconstitutional.

As we previously reported, Cole-Tindall filed a legal complaint with the United States District Court on Monday to determine the constitutionality of the latest expanded anti-camping ordinance (Ordinance 832) passed by the Burien City Council earlier this month. A motion for preliminary injunction addressing the Burien ordinance will be filed later this week for the court to decide in early April. 

“Since his hiring in late 2022, the Burien city manager has seemingly been carrying out a vendetta against unsheltered persons in Burien,” said Tamer Abouzeid, OLEO Director. “The extremes to which the city has gone, and the city’s continued refusal to utilize support offered by King County to help with issues of homelessness, belie any pretense that these actions are taken to improve public safety in Burien.

“Based on current case law, the code is prima facie unconstitutional; in addition to that, Burien’s anti-homeless policies are ineffective and counterproductive, whether at combatting homelessness itself or at improving public safety.”

As it has done throughout the past year, OLEO will continue to monitor the situation in Burien and to discuss the issues with community stakeholders, the Sheriff’s Office, and King County’s Community Advisory Committee for Law Enforcement Oversight (KCSO). 

“Research has shown that the criminalization of homelessness, especially in areas like Burien where there is insufficient housing and support, neither improves public safety nor ameliorates the factors leading to homelessness,” said OLEO Senior Policy Analyst Katy Kirschner. “As early as 2012 and as recently as last week’s State of the Union address by President Biden, the federal government has reiterated common-sense, uncontroversial ideas about homelessness: things like building affordable housing, lowering rent costs, and increasing access to behavioral health services help people escape the cycle of homelessness, while criminalization ‘creates a costly revolving door that circulates individuals experiencing homelessness from the street to the criminal justice system and back.’”

According to its website, OLEO “represents the interests of the public in its efforts to hold the King County Sheriff’s Office accountable for providing fair and just police services. It conducts audits, reviews, investigations and policy work, informed by community engagement and stakeholder partnerships.”

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