WASHINGTON COUNTY, INDIANA, Ind. — Due to staffing shortages, the Washington County Sheriff’s Department said they don’t have enough officers to provide 24-hour coverage.
So, in what the department described as an "unprecedented move", they won't have deputies on duty from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. starting March 22.
“This is not news that I want to deliver to the citizens of Washington County,” Sheriff Brent Miller said. “This is not a decision that has been made lightly. To the contrary, we have made change after change to the schedule in an attempt to continue 24/7 coverage for the county.”
According to a Facebook post, Miller said deputies have been working seven or eight days in a row and have worked 16-hour shifts on occasion.
“That isn’t safe for anyone,” he said. “We are trying to maintain appropriate police coverage, but simply can’t keep working the way we are.”
The department said they are currently down six deputies -- with two officers at training, one on light duty and three positions open. Miller said it has become "increasingly difficult to attract – and retain – qualified candidates due to the county’s current low pay scale."
“A recent salary survey revealed that our starting salary is $9,000 below the average starting salary of officers, in comparison to surrounding counties and/or city police departments," he said. “Our deputies are simply leaving for more money.”
The Washington Sheriff's Department is citing a high turnover rate that has "plagued" the department over the last three years.
"The county is required to put newly hired officers through the police academy, only to lose them a short time after they graduate," the department said.
Police said the high turnover rate also means that the department is, overall, "young and inexperienced." Some officers have even taken jobs at neighboring police departments because they are paying more.
Miller is calling on Washington County Council for help, saying that it's an issue they "cannot continue to ignore."
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The sheriff said the changes made by the county council in 2021 helped for a "short period." The council initially agreed to hire three additional deputies for a total of 16 and lock in the starting salary at $44,980 for a three-year period.
“It is now three years later, and we are back at the bottom again. The applicant pool has been shrinking drastically and all police agencies are competing for the same applicants,” Miller said. “They are going to go where the money and benefits are better. You can’t blame people for wanting to better themselves.”
“At this point in our discussions, the county council has not communicated any options for a possible solution to the public safety issue,” Miller continued. “I have been told that the county does not have available funds to put towards fixing the issue.”
He said that if the issue isn't fixed, the county will "face ongoing difficulties in retaining current officers and recruiting new officers."
Miller has asked Indiana State Police (ISP) to provide coverage during the third-shift period starting March 22.
“Even if the State Police are able to provide additional coverage, it is the responsibility of the county government to provide public safety for the citizens they represent," he said. "I sincerely hope the county council will come to the table and work with me, my department, and the Merit Board to address this very serious public safety issue.”
"That's probably when we need (police) the most is when it's nighttime," Allison Beasley, a Washington County resident, said. "Businesses need to be covered. People need to be covered."
"(It's) very disheartening. I would never have thought that the issue of people or businesses trying to find employees would ever spread into this realm into the police world," Jennifer Densmore, another resident said. "But it's it's scary to think that our town may not be watched over in the overnight times when you know, I would effectively think we needed."
But for these county residents, even more baffling than the change itself, is the decision by the department to publicize it on social media.
"Oh, to me, I don't understand," Densmore said. "It just magnetizes people to our little town and, you know, 'hey, you know, you can come and do whatever, because we're not gonna have a police presence.'"
"It should not have been posted on Facebook, maybe a press conference or something in the town for the townspeople, but not just posted for everybody to see it," Beasley said.
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