Traffic Enforcement: Shifting Sheriff's Office Practices for Improved Road Safety

Although traffic safety is a top priority issue for the King County Sheriff's Office, OLEO found a lack of clear strategy driving traffic enforcement decision-making across the county. OLEO recommends that the Sheriff's Office develop a data-driven traffic safety strategy that prioritizes safety-related traffic enforcement, reform guidance for traffic stop procedures, improve data collection practices, and conduct additional research on the use of automated enforcement cameras. 

This report marks OLEO's first Community Guided Policy Project - completed in collaboration with our partners from the Congolese Integration Network, Eastside for All, the Transportation Choices Coalition, People Power Washington, and with contributions from Washington for Black Lives, a project of Washington Community Alliance. Throughout the project, OLEO team members met with community partners to identify current problems, present research, and identify possible solutions. Read more about the Community Guided Framework process here. 

The final recommendations were informed by interviews with Sheriff's Office personnel, surveys of and listening sessions with King County residents, and researched best practices. In early November OLEO shared this report with the Sheriff's Office. Their team is reviewing the recommendations, formulating a response, and has already begun conversations with OLEO about next steps. 

Once available, OLEO will update this webpage with the Sheriff's Office response. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Sheriff's Office on our shared goals for improving traffic safety across King County.

Report Highlights

Recommendations

1. Revise policy guidance to prioritize enforcement of safety-related traffic violations, restrict non-safety-related traffic stops, and create a data-driven agency-wide traffic enforcement strategy. 
2. Limit questioning and prohibit consent searches during traffic stops to promote the rights of drivers and reduce racial disparities in enforcement.   
3. Collect data for all traffic stops-including demographic data-and implement best practices for data collection, storage, and analysis to improve transparency and promote accountability. 
4. If the Sheriff's Office is considering increasing automated traffic enforcement, King County should first commission an independent feasibility and equity study and require robust community engagement on the potential implementation of automated enforcement. 

Key Takeaways

• In 2022, the King County Auditor's Office recommended that the Sheriff's Office develop a comprehensive traffic safety strategy. However, the Sheriff's Office has not yet implemented their recommendations. OLEO reaffirms the importance of an agency-wide traffic safety strategy. 
• Aggressive driving, speeding, and safety of non-car roadway users (pedestrians, bicyclists, scooters, etc.) were top concerns for King County residents and deputies alike. 
• OLEO finds that there is significant opportunity for the Sheriff's Office to leverage limited resources and shift its focus to prioritize data-driven and safety-focused traffic enforcement strategies.

Recommendation Status

Last Updated - November 20, 2025

Of the four recommendations:

ADOPTED: 0

Recommendations have been fully implemented. OLEO will no longer monitor.

PARTIALLY ADOPTED: 0 

Recommendations are in progress or partially implemented. OLEO will continue to monitor.

NOT ADOPTED: 4

Recommendations remain unresolved. OLEO will continue to monitor.

CLOSED: 0

Recommendation is no longer applicable. OLEO will no longer monitor.