County asks for more deputies

The number of serious crimes reported to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department last year grew by more than 10 percent even as the department’s staffing levels continue to lag behind other state law enforcement agencies.

“Group A” offenses, including crimes like murder, manslaughter, rape, assault, kidnapping, extortion and drug charges, grew by 10.5 percent in 2007, said Undersheriff Tad Leach. Total calls for service grew by almost 18 percent compared to 2006.

That uptick in crime, coupled with a burgeoning population, is prompting the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department to seek 13 additional deputies and detectives in 2009.

They, along with the Coeur d’Alene Police Department and the Post Falls Police Department, have fallen behind in recent years as officer hires have failed to keep pace with population growth.

“Everybody’s in the same boat,” Leach said, adding that Kootenai County, however, may be worse off than most.

“We are behind the curve of what we think we should be at,” Leach said. “We have fewer-than-average resources and higher-than-average need for those resources.”

He said the county ranks number one in violent crime when compared to the other 11 metropolitan Idaho counties.

The jump in crime sometimes makes it difficult for deputies to quickly get to calls in the far reaches of the county.

“We’ve had several high-profile cases where just because of not having enough personnel on the streets the response time has been pathetic,” Leach said, citing a more than 20-minute response time to a Bayview home invasion and a more than 40-minute response time to a domestic violence call in Harrison last year.

Overall the average response time of 18 minutes, 12 seconds per call in 2007 was an improvement over 2006, but still slower than the average 17 minutes, 7 seconds response time in 2003, Leach said.

The problem, he said, is a lack of deputies.

Currently, the department has 1.2 officers for every 1,000 residents within its service area (unincorporated areas and towns without their own police departments). That’s down from 1.5 officers per 1,000 residents in 2003.

The 13 requested hires would bring the Sheriff’s Department to a 1.4 officers per 1,000 population ratio.

In Post Falls, the Police Department has submitted a five-year plan to bring its force up to staffing levels it hasn’t seen in the 21st century.

“This year staffing is our number one priority,” said Post Falls Police Capt. Scot Haug.

The proposed plan calls for hiring five officers and one support staff, and an additional 20 officers and five other staff over the next four years.

In 1993 Post Falls had 2.7 officers for every 1,000 citizens. That number has now dropped to 1.3, Haug said. He would like the ratio to be brought back to 1.8 officers for every 1,000 Post Falls residents.

“We’re seeing an increase in violent calls,” Haug said. “The problem is we have to have the staff out here to respond to calls.”

Next year’s roughly $370,000 worth of requested hires and their equipment could be funded in large part with additional tax dollars if the Post Falls City Council chooses to take advantage of foregone taxes.

The city could utilize about $260,000 in taxes that it was entitled to take but didn’t in previous years. The city’s finance department estimated such an increase, coupled with a 3 percent general increase in taxes would cost the owner of an average Post Falls home about $18 more in taxes next year.

City Council members have said that they’re open to the idea of collecting forgone taxes if the money is used for public safety.

“Is it a necessity? No. Is it important? Yes,” said Post Falls City Councilor Scott Grant, who said he would only consider using forgone taxes for public safety.

“There’s always a reluctance to want to raise taxes,” Grant said.

It’s unclear where Post Falls officials would find the funding for future year’s hires.

Like Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department and Post Falls Police Department leaders, Coeur d’Alene Police Department Police Chief Wayne Longo is also asking elected officials for more officers.

Longo said his department isn’t too bad off now, but more officers will be needed to keep up with population growth in the city.

“I’d like to try to keep that,” Longo said of the city’s 1.6 officers for every 1,000 residents.

To keep pace with population growth, Longo is requesting three patrol officers, a Lakes Middle School resource officer, five detectives, a community relations specialist, making a part-time animal control position full-time and additional support staff.

Longo said he’s hopeful Coeur d’Alene elected officials will be responsive over the coming years.

“The City Council has been very good to the Police Department,” he said.