Mukilteo Police Station
One common complaint in the unincorporated area is that the county police have to patrol a large area, and as a result is spread too thin to patrol and respond at desired levels and times. With annexation, there would be more police officers per capita in the annexed areas, the currently incorporated areas should not see a decrease in police service, and county police can provide any necessary service and can patrol the remaining unincorporated areas better.
The 2006 study includes a study on the police needs of the unincorporated areas of Mukilteo, with data categorized into the Western MUGA (Lake Serene & Picnic Point), the Paine Field MUGA (the industrial western Fairmount), and the Eastern MUGA (Fairmount). The proposed annexation area includes the Western and Paine Field MUGAs, and portions of the Eastern MUGA along Mukilteo Speedway.
The study indicates that the Western MUGA would require a 34% increase in Mukilteo’s police force, and the Paine Field MUGA would require a 5% increase. The portions of the Eastern MUGA should require a similar increase. These would be funded by the increased tax base from annexation. While annexation requires a significant increase in police force size, this is due to the number of residents and businesses. The area being annexed is a low-crime area consisting mainly of single-family residential with households with medium and higher incomes.
With land use and zoning changes combined with more localized policing, the police needs of the annexed areas should decrease in the long-term. Unlike with fire stations, the location of the Mukilteo police station is a non-issue, since police officers are more often patrolling instead of waiting for a call at the station. Even then, potential new road construction to connect Harbour Pointe with Picnic Point and Lake Serene would minimize response times.