Thurston County Sheriff's Office will not join TV reality show

After Thurston County Sheriff’s Office met with the executive producer of “On Patrol: Live,” a Reelz show that follows law enforcement agencies during the course of their work, the agency chose not to join the show. In a Facebook post, Sheriff Derek Sanders cited “issues stemming from historical staffing issues at TCSO” for opting out of the show at this time.

“This doesn’t mean an opportunity will not present itself at a later date when such issues are resolved, with their producer telling us to call back whenever we are ready,” Sanders wrote. “At this time, however, I feel it would be irresponsible to place a national audience in the front seat next to a group of deputies that are constantly working strenuous amounts of overtime to meet minimum staffing levels, especially coming out of 2023 where we saw training slashed to stay within our budget.”

Sanders added that new sales tax funding is on the horizon but TCSO is still in a staffing emergency with 37 working patrol deputies for 150,000 people.