LAKE COUNTY — Law enforcement retention and recruiting which has been a national problem since 9/11 — has now reached crisis proportions locally.
While law enforcement agencies in both Mendocino and Sonoma counties are also struggling with personnel losses and recruiting challenges, Sheriff Rod Mitchell said the Lake County Sheriff”s Department had 6 more deputies when he started in 1983 than they have now. Mitchell is asking the public to lobby the Board of Supervisors for better pay and benefits to attract recruits in his paper titled “Common Problem, Uncommon Consequences,” which he posted on the Sheriff”s website last week at www.lakesheriff.com.
A shortage of law enforcement recruits has law enforcement agencies across the U.S. scrambling to fill their ranks and has made officer retention a top concern for all police and sheriff departments, according to the Christian Science Publishing Society.
Municipalities are now struggling to offer better benefits, better equipment and better working conditions to counteract this trend. In the state of Delaware, for example, one police department has adopted State Police scheduling of 12-hour shifts for a maximum of three days in a row and always with a minimum of two days off.
Board of Supervisors member Anthony Farrington said, “In almost all jurisdictions throughout the state, the CHP (a state department), and the cities provide higher salaries and better benefits, especially better retirement benefits (they have more money and less community obligations and services to provide). However, this fact exists in each of the 58 California counties and is not unique to Lake County. The law enforcement field in general throughout the state is having a difficult time filling vacancies, including the CHP.”
At a City Council meeting last August Chief of Police Kevin Burke addressed staffing issues at the Lakeport Police Department and said, “Sometimes we have only one officer on duty,” and added, “I have been that officer.”
Burke said he believes the Lakeport Police Department should have two dedicated patrol resources available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and that his recommendation would be, “that we replace all positions after people retire or leave.” Burke would like to see staffing levels return to the time before Chief Engstrom retired. The question, according to Burke, “is whether the city can afford this.”
Farrington said he met last October with the President of the Deputy Sheriff”s Association and Scott Lewis. He also said he spoke with Sheriff Mitchell to discuss the current vacancy and retention issues facing our county.
Farrington said, “Recently, the Board for the first time in years added more deputy patrol positions to increase the amount of deputies, so that there are more cops on the streets. The problem with this approach is that we cannot fill the slots that we already have. Instead of increasing the number of positions or deputy sheriff slots, my recommendation to the Board and our Sheriff during budget proceedings in August was to eliminate these newly created slots and free up these monies and move them to increase the salaries and benefits for our existing Deputy Sheriffs slots, in turn helping us retain our existing force, and be more competitive in the recruitment process.”
Currently, Farrington pointed out, the tentative budget for 06/07 includes a proposed increase in four Deputy Sheriff positions, and one Office of Emergency Services Coordinator slot.
“Last fiscal year for the Sheriff-Coroner”s budget was $7.080 million. This year the proposed budget is $8.27 million, a substantial increase,” said Farrington, adding that, “I wholeheartedly believe that with the current trend state-wide and within our own county competing with local city police departments and the CHP, we must do better to provide better salaries and benefits to make the Lake County Sheriff”s department more attractive in order to retain the great personnel that we have in place today, and be more competitive in the recruitment of new officers. Though this task is not an easy task, I do believe it is attainable.”
Contact Cynthia Davis at cdavis@record-bee.com.
