Scope Coordinator Quits Position Lapse In Funding Forces Carver Out

Thu., March 18, 1999

By Robin Rivers robinr@spokesman.com

The coordinator of the Sheriff’s Office SCOPE substations quit Wednesday after being told his position would be cut at the end of the month.

Terry Carver, who was the SCOPE coordinator for about three years, supervised more than 400 volunteers at 13 substations throughout the county.

He made $19,500 a year and was the only salaried SCOPE employee. Carver could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

“We were real hopeful right up to the last minute that we would find funding,” said Sheriff’s spokesman Dave Reagan. “We just couldn’t work anything out.”

Carver’s salary has been paid by Washington State University through a program that finances start-up community policing efforts. The contract ends March 31.

“At some point, a start-up has to transition into a program with ongoing funding,” said Barb Chamberlain, spokeswoman for WSU-Spokane. “It’s not a matter of not supporting the program. Our role is that of a catalyst.”

Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk said he had hoped to turn Carver’s job into a civil service position, with a salary of $35,000 to $40,000 a year plus benefits.

Sterk asked the county to pay for the position but was turned down by commissioners, who said they didn’t want to fund another civil service job, Sterk said.

The departure of Carver is not expected to shutter any of the county’s SCOPE substations.

Sheriff’s Lt. Gerry Fojtik will take over the program while Sterk and the volunteer substation presidents put together a proposal to hire a contract worker who would not receive government benefits.

Sterk expects the proposal to go before commissioners in April.

“For the health of the organization, we need to move quick on this,” Sterk said. Carver will be encouraged to apply, Sterk said.

The Sheriff’s Office Community Oriented Policing Effort was established in 1994. Volunteers perform duties ranging from home and business security checks to retrieving fingerprint evidence at crime scenes. SCOPE is similar to the city’s COPS program.

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