Cuts In Sheriff’s Budget Protested Secondhand Bulletproof Vests Suggested As Possible Way To Save
The DARE program is gone and raises for deputies are unlikely. But the suggestion officers use secondhand bulletproof vests to save money was the final insult for the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department.
A pack of about 25 off-duty officers, family and friends picketed the courthouse Monday to protest department budget cuts.
County Commissioners Bud Mueller and Larry Allen are looking to slice about $240,000 out of Sheriff Chip Roos’ budget. Funding for DARE was completely wiped out, and the drug education program is dead. Money to operate the jail and marine division was trimmed and officers say instead of raises it’s possible commissioners will cut personnel.
“When you start cutting back on public safety it is pretty risky,” Roos said. “We have been operating tight to the bone for years and now they are saying cut.”
The county already has too few officers. Fifteen patrol the roads and Roos said ideally this large county needs 11 more. The department loses its trained officers to better equipped, higher-paying departments. Fifteen people left last year, and another four officers were interviewing for new jobs on Monday.
“Our concern is not just about raises, it’s about not being able to do our jobs,” said Sgt. Pat Trammell, a 14-year veteran of the department. “We want to get the public involved and have them speak out because these cuts will affect the public.”
Commissioner Mueller recently suggested using old bulletproof vests, and hand-me-down wetsuits for the county dive team to save a few bucks.
“I’ll agree to the old vests if one of the commissioners wants to be a test dummy to be sure they are going to work in the field,” said Detective John Valdez. “There should be no compromise on officer safety issues.”
Mueller did not return calls to comment. Commissioner Dale Van Stone said he didn’t know if Mueller was serious about buying used vests, calling it an “off the wall” remark.
“Where it comes to a safety issue I don’t think we should be buying cheap stuff to try and save a few taxpayer dollars.”
The Sheriff’s Department did take a “big hit” with cuts, Van Stone said. Some of the issues may be revisited, including bumping up officers’ salaries.
The budget will be printed next week with a public hearing scheduled for late August. Once the budget is printed it can’t be increased, only decreased.
Deputies get paid about $10 an hour. That is several dollars less than officers for the city of Sandpoint or even the little town of Ponderay.
The county ends up being a training ground for new deputies, who then leave for better jobs so they can afford to live and raise a family.
“We train them and other departments reap the benefits,” Valdez said. “We have had a flat budget for three years and we are taking 10 giant steps backwards with these cuts.”
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