Continued Loss Of Staff Results In Additional Reductions To Sheriff Services -10/28/19

Hood River, Ore. - The continued loss of staff at the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office has resulted in additional reductions to vital services.  In July, the Sheriff’s Office lost twenty-four-hour patrol coverage.  Participation in the regional drug task force, MINT, ceased later that month due to the loss of the assigned detective to another agency. 

Four deputies have submitted applications with other agencies, one has already been hired, and two are in later stages of hiring.  In addition to those applying elsewhere, two more deputies have resigned.  Further, the agency has a scheduled retirement occurring in early 2020 and a deputy is still recovering long term from a serious injury sustained while on duty.

“We currently have eight deputies to patrol the Hood River Valley and one assigned to fulfill our contract with the City of Cascade Locks”, said Sheriff Matt English.  “With more staff set to leave, I am fearful things will get worse before they stabilize.”

In October, patrol coverage was reduced from 20 hours to 12 hours per day.  During the hours when the office doesn’t have coverage, deputies remain on call and will respond to emergent life-safety calls for service.  Calls not requiring immediate response will be handled by deputies when they are on duty.  “We will respond.  It may just take longer depending on when the report is received by our office.”, English said.  “Our partner agencies have agreed to respond to some emergencies to ensure life safety, if they have resources available to do so, and until such time as we can get deputies there.”

The Sheriff’s Office has seen multiple staffing challenges during the last seven years, only operating with a fully functioning patrol staff for about 12 months during that period.  Current levels are comparable to the staff the office employed in 1990.  According to Portland State University’s Population Research Center, Hood River County’s population was 16,903 in 1990.  The 2018 estimate showed a growth of nearly 50% since that time, with an estimated county population of 25,310. 

An additional challenge for the agency is the fact that three of the remaining positions are funded by outside entities with performance measures or service expectations attached.  As a result, those three positions cannot be utilized for routine patrol operations.

Sheriff English explained that he is unable to fill deputy vacancies at this point due to the county’s budget shortfall.  “The county is unable to ensure the vacated positions will not be cut on June 30, 2020, which is in addition to the fact that it takes a year from the time the Sheriff’s Office starts advertising until we have a deputy that is able to operate independently.”

Hood River County Commissioners have made it clear that county run offices and departments must operate in a sustainable manner because financial resources are finite and there are no new long-term revenues available.

Other county departments are not immune from the phenomenon of service reductions being experienced in the Sheriff’s Office.  Since July, service levels in County Public Works, County Parks, Forestry’s Trail Program, the Juvenile Department, and Community Development have seen reductions due to declining resources and financial instability.

“Implementing service reductions has been the most gut-wrenching decision I’ve had to make as Sheriff.  Not only has this been extremely difficult because of the impacts it has on the community, it has deeply affected our staff that have dedicated their lives to protect this county.”, said English   He went on to explain that the statutory responsibilities and mandates of the Office of Sheriff don’t go away.  “I’m not excused from fulfilling the Sheriff’s duties to provide services like search and rescue, court security and prisoner transports, all which require deputies to perform.” 

English said that during the first few months of the current fiscal year, the office has expended over $40,000 in overtime to fulfill those mandates alongside the already reduced level of service.  “We have to be fiscally responsible with the dollars taxpayers have entrusted us with.  Expending overtime at that rate can help fill short term gaps but this is a long-term problem and that model is not sustainable.”  

In addition to the monetary impacts Sheriff English said one of the major issues he had to address was a way to mitigate the stream of deputies applying with other agencies.  “We can’t continue to burn our staff to the ground working inordinate amounts of overtime.  With agencies all over the region hiring and the instability of the county, there’s very little to keep our deputies here at this point.  I have to make every effort possible to ensure we maintain some level of law enforcement protection to the 17,000 citizens that receive direct patrol services from our office in the 528 square miles outside of the city limits of Hood River.”

The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office operates Hood River County’s 911 system, rural law enforcement patrol, criminal investigations, school resource program, parole and probation, search and rescue, marine patrol, off highway vehicle enforcement, forest patrol, county emergency management, animal control, civil division, concealed handgun licensing, and is a member of the NORCOR regional jail.