Armed marshals for transit tunnel?

Armed marshals are being considered as one long-term way to deter crime in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, after unarmed private-security employees there watched a 15-year-old girl get attacked and kicked repeatedly in the head.

Tunnel marshals would be similar to those at the King County Courthouse. They carry guns and detain people, but are not fully commissioned deputies so are less costly to hire, King County Sheriff Sue Rahr explained Friday. Marshals are one of several options being considered, said Rahr and Jim Jacobson, deputy director of King County Metro Transit.

Surveillance videotape of the Jan. 28 beating made headlines nationally this week. In response, County Executive Dow Constantine ordered at least one armed deputy at each of the five tunnel stations.

Previously, there were two deputies patrolling the entire tunnel — part of a 68-member transit police force that responds to emergency calls and patrols bus stops and transit centers throughout the county. They often work in plazas above the Westlake and International District/Chinatown stations.

Talks continue regarding how to change the work rules for the private Olympic Security guards; current rules say they "shall never become involved in enforcement actions." Olympic will increase training next week on how to defuse conflicts. Olympic spokesman Laird Harris said Friday he spoke with one guard who said he had prevented 15 tunnel altercations in about three months, without physical contact.

Metro could reduce its force of unarmed guards if marshals or deputies were stationed long-term. But there would still be a role for the guards in protecting property, warning riders to stay back from the yellow platform edge, and providing extra sets of eyes on the huge stations, officials said.

Metro faces a budget crisis from the economic downturn and sales-tax declines. It is paying for tunnel deputies from an overtime budget, and Jacobson couldn't say Friday how long the county could sustain that level of deputy presence.

Off-duty Seattle police worked in pairs at tunnel stations until 2005, when it closed for two years to be retrofitted for light rail. Metro then brought in Olympic, whose wages range from roughly $11 to $15 per hour, to put more eyes in the tunnel for limited dollars.

Deputies cost $86 an hour because they are paid benefits and assigned a car for countywide calls. Marshals would cost less, Rahr said. Seattle off-duty police were costing Metro $40 an hour for tunnel patrol, an audit says.

Rich O'Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild, said he warned in 2007 that someone would be hurt in a tunnel crime if Metro relied on unarmed security. On Friday, he suggested Metro go back to hiring off-duty Seattle police officers.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com