Keeping Up With Crime
There is no law enforcement on shift for four hours every night in Stillwater County.
While that is not exactly a secret, it has started to become a problem and Stillwater County Undersheriff Chip Kem says it’s time to make a change.
To that end, Kem is asking the Stillwater County Commissioners for an additional $40,000 in the overtime budget which would allow deputies to provide 24-hour coverage at least twice a week. Last year’s OT budget was $25,000.
Kem presented the proposal at his budget meeting with commissioners earlier this month.
PROBLEMS
When an incident occurs during those four hours, a deputy is called out to respond. The frequency and nature of those incidents are increasing and leading to delays in response times, which the public is taking note of, said Kem.
“It’s not the same kind of busy that it used to be,” said Kem.
Simple calls for service are commonly turning into lengthy criminal investigations of serious accidents, deaths and crimes.
STAFF SIZE
At full strength, there are nine deputies on staff, including Kem, Sheriff Cliff Brophy and Chief Investigator Woody Claunch. The office ran with seven deputies for more than 20 years before a mill levy added two more positions.
At the earlier budget meeting, Commissioners Gerald Dell and Dennis Shupak asked if an additional deputy would help. Commissioner Maureen Davey said it was the first time Kem was asking for something while no one was on shift and requested a list of deputy scheduling to see if there was potential for better organization of shifts. Kem said he would supply that to Davey.
Kem said that reality was inevitable, but for the immediate future, all the deputies were willing to try increased overtime. Kem noted, and County Finance Specialist Joe Morse confirmed, that a new deputy would be double the cost of Kem’s OT budget proposal.
And even with an additional deputy on the streets, Kem said there would still be a need to increase the overtime budget to facilitate 24-hour coverage a few days a week. Kem also noted the reserve budget is currently at 127 percent, but that isn’t solving the response time issue.
Also discussed was the fact that deputies and command staff are not able to use all of their vacation time. Morse noted that in such situations there is a concern about “burn out.”