Sheriff patrols will end Sunday, May 27
Residents seeking concealed gun permits on rise; self-protection consequences topic May 29 in Grants Pass
Due to the failure of a Tuesday, May 15 public safety levy, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) will cease most rural patrols as of Sunday, May 27, said Sheriff Gil Gilbertson.
The county long has relied on federal O&C dollars, given in lieu of declining timber receipts, to fund law enforcement and other operations. Reauthorization legislation was tied to a larger appropriations bill that included a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.
President Bush vetoed that bill earlier this month due to the timetable. And he has threatened to veto a separate domestic spending bill that includes the county payments program.
On Wednesday, May 16, pink-colored termination slips were sent to some 125 county employees. Gilbertson said that JCSO will be reduced from 88 to 46 full-time employees, prompting 42 total layoffs in that operation. Those layoffs will be effective Thursday, May 31.
“It hurts big time,” said the sheriff.
All remaining deputies will be transferred to the jail, as state law mandates jail staffing -- but not patrols.
“For us to comply with the May 31 layoff date, we needed to do the transition quicker than originally expected,” Gilbertson said.
He said that he had planned to make the personnel transfers at the end of June, but that the county commissioners decided on the May 31 layoff date for all departments.
Deputies will be closing out their case files and moving to the jail for training on Sunday, May 27. JCSO will provide “limited response” to calls until June 15, at which point all remaining deputies will be stationed at the jail.
As of May 31, the county’s 262-capacity jail in Grants Pass will be limited to 30 beds, Gilbertson said. Approximately 117 inmates occupied the facility as of Friday, May 18. That does not include the 30 federal inmates also housed there.
Gilbertson confirmed that not all inmates scheduled for release will be let out simultaneously.
After June 15, Gilbertson said, “911 will still be a viable way to call for help, but calls will be transferred to Oregon State Police (OSP), if they’re available.”
OSP will be able to respond only to life-threatening situations, Gilbertson said. Residents are preparing for the worst, as JCSO has been flooded with requests for concealed weapons permits.
“I think we’re doing about 20 a day,” said the sheriff. “We’ve definitely seen an increase. We had to bring an additional person in to help with the workload.”
JCSO has presented a series of self-defense seminars to help residents deal with the pending patrol losses. The next seminar is scheduled for Tuesday, May 29 at the Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass from 7 to 9 p.m.
Gilbertson said that his office also is encouraging formation of Neighborhood Watch programs, and that JCSO can aid those efforts.
“If there’s any message I want to give to the public, it’s that they need to start protecting each other,” Gilbertson said. “If people want to establish a Neighborhood Watch system, they can give us a call and we’ll see if we can get them scheduled in.”
JCSO is trying to secure other funding methods to try and shore it up until funding solutions can be found.
“We are aggressively going after whatever grants we can find. There are a couple that we are working toward now,” Gilbertson said. “There are no guarantees that we’re going to get them, but we are definitely going after whatever we can find.”
