Sheriff’s office working to institute 24-hour coverage

By Andy Gates - Argus Observer
Sunday, March 18, 2007 1:06 AM PDT

VALE - The Malheur County Sheriff’s Office is now adjusting personnel in an effort to make around-the-clock police coverage a reality, at least four days out of the week, Undersheriff Brian Wolfe said.

Insufficient manning at the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office is preventing 24-hour coverage, Wolfe said, and no deputies are on duty during a crucial four-hour period each day. Wolfe said in two months his office should be able to provide 24-hour coverage four days out of the week because a new deputy will be returning from the Oregon Public Safety Academy and another deputy will be pulled from a traffic beat.

“We’ve known we’ve needed 24-hour coverage,” Wolfe said Thursday.

However, a recent assault case helped push the drive to implement around the clock patrol, Wolfe said.

That case involved a victim just outside Ontario who waited more than an hour for a deputy to aid her after she was attacked by a man with a shotgun around 4 a.m.

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Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris refused to second guess the hour-long response from the sheriff’s office to the victim.

“Given staffing with no troopers or deputies on duty, and given the circumstances, they did a good job getting someone there are soon as possible,” Norris said.

There are currently no Malheur County Sheriff’s Office deputies on duty after 3 a.m.

Night shifts at the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office are from 5 p.m. until 3 a.m., Wolfe said, and when deputies are not on duty they are on call.

Because of personnel shortfalls, Oregon State Police troopers are also on call after 3 a.m. each day.

Only the Ontario Police Department and the Nyssa Police Department have officers on duty between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. each day in the county.

Last week, Wolfe said an additional six officers would be requested in the next budget cycle to implement 24-hour coverage for the county.

However, that request changed Thursday, when Wolfe said only two deputies will likely be in a future budget request.

“From a realistic standpoint, we’re going to back off from six, and ask for a couple for 24-hour coverage,” Wolfe said.

The reason why the number of deputies requested was reduced, Wolfe said, revolved around funding.

“We understand even two (deputies) would be a long shot,” Wolfe said, “But we’re going to try. There’s only so many dollars to go around.”

With an additional two deputies, the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office could implement a graveyard shift seven days a week, Wolfe said, to cover the current unmanned hours after 3 a.m.

Members of the Malheur County Court declined to get into specifics regarding whether the request for more deputies could be realized, because some federal funds that nourish the county’s coffers are in a holding pattern.

Two key federal funding sources for rural counties — Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act — reimburse counties containing federal land in lieu of property taxes.

The fate of these two federal funding programs remains unclear, and that could mean the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office may not receive additional deputies.

“Realistically, I’m not sure its going to happen,” Malheur County Commissioner Louis Wettstein said of a deputy boost with the possible reduction of PILT money.

Malheur County Judge Dan Joyce said he cannot comment on whether he would support deputy increases because federal funding revenue is in limbo.

“It is impossible to comment without knowing what funding is available,” Joyce said.

Wettstein said more deputies are “very needed” in the county, but it is too early to say if there will be funding available to hire more personnel.

“We won’t be sure until we get through the budget process in May,” Wettstein said.

Joyce said he does not know if more deputies are needed in the county.

Wolfe said more deputies are necessary to provide better service to the public, and to implement daily around-the-clock coverage.

“We know we need more (manning) in order to provide a better service,” Wolfe has said.

“We’ve beat to death how to get more people on the street at night and provide 24-hour coverage, and with the exception of one position that we’re changing, there’s only one answer, and that’s to add people,” Wolfe said.

Joyce said he is not familiar with how the sheriff’s office sets its coverage plans.

“They’re doing a tremendous job with county resources,” Joyce said.

Each patrol deputy position in Malheur County typically costs around $100,000 annually for wages, equipment and benefits, Wolfe has said, and currently there are 19 people at the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office who can make arrests.

There are typically ten officers on duty during the day, Wolfe said, and nine are suited up during the evening hours.

However, some Vale residents have said it seems the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office is staffed too heavily during the day.

Wolfe said he understands that perception, but day slots are staffed accordingly, he said.

Specifically, two marine deputies work during the day, because one handles property investigations and the other is on the water, Wolfe said.

Three deputies work the Vale school district area, for five, eight-hour days under a contract with the town, Wolfe said, where one deputy works the day shift.

A deputy handles the civil issues during the day, as well as a narcotics task force officer and a family violence detective who both work a day shift.

There are two Jordan Valley deputies, Wolfe said, and they rotate days and nights.

Top MCSO brass work days — Sheriff Andy Bentz, Lt. Craig Smith and Wolfe — who are on duty from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wolfe said.

That leaves a typical nighttime staff of nine bodies who work from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., Wolfe said.

The night shift includes a sergeant, Wolfe said, as well as a deputy who was moved from a daytime traffic position to work nights; a deputy who will be out of the academy in two months; the remaining two Vale deputies; a Jordan Valley deputy; and three patrol deputies.

Many of the specific daytime positions, such as Smith’s job to handle emergency management operations for the county, receive state and federal funding, so changing hours could affect funding for the position, Wolfe said.