Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Sheriff’s office is down five deputies

Valley economics blamed for law enforcement vacancies


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling says the economics of living in the Wood River Valley makes it difficult to retain law enforcement officers. Photo by Mountain Express

The Blaine County Sheriff's Office is down five deputies—four patrolmen and one jailer.

The situation is not unusual. The sheriff's office has only been fully staffed about 3 percent of the time since 2000.

Sheriff Walt Femling said people leave for different reasons, but the largest drain on his staff has been lower-than-market-rate wages and the economics of living in the Wood River Valley.

"My pitch at the budget this year is that we need to get our law enforcement at market rate or we will continue to lose officers," Femling said.

The sheriff said the salary level for Blaine County staff is 10 to 20 percent below "market rate."

New jailers have a starting salary of $16 per hour, while new patrolmen start with Blaine County at $18 an hour.

"You can't afford to live here when you're making those kind of wages," Femling said. "We're just not in the game with the wages."

Femling said the staff shortage has not greatly affected the sheriff's office, which has been allocated funding for 23 patrol and 18 jail positions.

The sheriff said he has lost six patrolmen this year, but had to also fill five new positions after his office took on a contract last December to provide law enforcement in Bellevue.

"Of the people who left, two of them decided to get out of law enforcement altogether," Femling said. "Four were recruited by the state police or Treasure Valley departments where they're making more money than they were making here.

"They get great training and great experience here and it's frustrating to watch them leave," Femling said. "Many of them hate to leave—they love it here.

"Are there one or two that leave disgruntled?" Femling said. "Yes, but that's usually mutual."

The situation is not unique to the sheriff's office. The Hailey Police Department is often down an officer or two and the Ketchum Police Department currently has two openings out of an authorized police staff of 12.

Sun Valley Police Chief Cameron Daggett said his department is fully staffed, but that he typically loses about one officer a year.

Daggett said the economics of living in the Wood River Valley plays a large role in losing officers, but that sometimes people leave for career opportunities.

"In a smaller department you can usually have only one K-9 officer or one detective," Daggett said. "Sometimes the advancement opportunities just aren't there and people move on to larger departments where there are more available positions."

Femling said the new Blaine County Public Safety Facility has been a big factor in drawing applicants for the vacancies and has helped in officer retention, particularly of jail staff.

"The new jail makes a difference," he said. "People like to work here."

The sheriff said consideration is also being given to making it easier for officers to make it economically in the valley.

"I think the county commissioners are looking at raising our pay, and we're looking at ways to find affordable housing for my deputies," he said.

Femling said he's encouraged by the high quality of applications he's been receiving for the vacancies.

"I've recruited some really good people with college degrees from all over the country," he said. "We're getting good applicants. The challenge is, once I train them, to keep them from going to higher-paying jobs."




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