Funding urged for 16 deputies now instead of later
Money available with federal safety-net extension; sheriff says he wants to bolster law enforcement
From our weekly issue dated December 24, 2008
A plan to increase staffing levels at the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) was discussed on Thursday, Dec. 18 at the county commission conference room at the courthouse in Grants Pass.
The item originally was scheduled to be considered by the board. However, Chairman Dave Toler was the only commissioner present, as Jim Raffenburg was absent and Vice Chairman Dwight Ellis had jury duty. As such, what took place was more of a roundtable conversation among representatives from the county’s various criminal justice components.
Present were District Attorney Stephen Campbell, Community Justice Director Abe Huntley, Juvenile Justice Director Janine Wilson, county CFO Rosemary Padgett, Sheriff Gil Gilbertson and JCSO Business Manager Sue Watkins. Commissioner-elect Sandi Cassanelli was in the audience.
Gilbertson said that the plan to add 16 positions was inspired by several calls from angry residents regarding the lack of law enforcement services in the county.
“I listen to what they say,” Gilbertson said.
The new plan would provide 20 hours of service per day, seven days a week, and enable the use of 40 more jail beds. It requires the addition of eight patrol deputies, two jail deputies, one detective, two records clerks and two jail support staff positions.
Right now, the sheriff’s office provides one 12-hour shift every day.
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Toler said that the county’s entire criminal justice system will be in jeopardy in 2013, when federal funds will drop off severely from their current levels.
Campbell said that the staffing levels at the jail have a detrimental effect on his department’s ability to prosecute crimes. Under the status quo, Measure 11 offenders are detained, Campbell said, but parole violators are difficult to sanction when the jail is at capacity.
Adding more available jail beds would increase the ability of the D.A.’s office to move cases, Campbell said, because many don’t move through the system due to the county’s inability to sanction failures to appear in court.
“We’re in a bare bones situation,” Campbell said. “We’re way behind the state in the way we present our cases.”
Campbell added that his office has lost much legal experience during the past few years and has three homicide cases for spring 2009.
“I need some commitments down the line,” he said.
Wilson estimated that her department would receive an additional 222 cases per year if the new staffing plan were adopted.
Huntley said that adding more deputies would enhance the safety of his department’s probation officers when they work in rural parts of the county. He said that there are 100 fewer offenders in the system than just a few months ago, but that’s due to weaknesses in the system and not a drop in crime or the county’s population.
“We don’t have room for drug offenders at the jail,” Huntley said, adding that such sanctions are used to change criminal behavior. “The jail is really the backbone of the system.”
The county commission will revisit the matter in January, with Cassanelli as a member.
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