Closed roads and police response times

Sheriff King comments on the closure of Towne Road

I'm surprised to hear that I’m the first to contact Sheriff King about Towne Road’s impact on EMS resonse times. I would have expected County leaders to reach out, especially after the concerns raised during the 2015 public survey about first responders reaching communities north of the closure. My email exchange with Sheriff King:

Dear Sheriff King,

I’m curious if the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office has a public opinion about the possible permanent closure of Towne Road.  There is a meeting for public comment on September 26th, and I’d like to learn the views of first responders before the meeting. If you don’t already have a public statement about using Towne Road as a primary or alternative route, would you consider making a statement before the meeting later this month?

Thank you,

Jeff Tozzer

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Jeff,

My apologies for not getting back to you sooner.  I wanted to gain some additional perspective from our Deputies as well.  I do not have anything officially prepared as you are the first to inquire.  During my inquiry with Deputies, and looking at some calls for service data in the region, I cannot find any data that would suggest our response to emergency situations have been hampered by the closure.  Anecdotally, anytime you close a road response times (depending on the destination) could be affected.  However, because there are several alternative or more preferred routes to the Dungeness area (like Sequim Dungeness Way), the impact has been very minimal.  By the nature of our patrols, since they are fluid and you can't necessarily predict where you are going to be when you get a call, we look for the most efficient route from wherever we are dispatched from to get to our destination.  

In the rare but real instance that we were on patrol on East Anderson and need to get to a residence on Towne Rd quickly, the most efficient route would be to proceed south down Towne Rd from East Anderson. Scenarios like this certainly would have impacts to our response time.

We are used to road closures and projects that present traffic disruptions.  And we have to plan for workarounds.  Closing a road would inevitably have some impact to public safety.  

I appreciate you reaching out to me for my perspective.  I think the citizens of Sequim and Towne Road residents need to weigh in heavily on all the options being considered


Brian J. King
Sheriff
CLALLAM COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE