Citizens take law into own hands after cash-strapped Ore. county guts sheriff's office

[QuietDan]

Citizens take law into own hands after cash-strapped Ore. county guts sheriff's office

 

By Stephanie McNeal 

Published December 26, 2013 

FoxNews.com

 

 

 

When budget woes reduced the sheriff's department in one rural Oregon county to a bare-bones force, residents decided to take matters into their own hands -- creating armed patrol groups in defiance of local officials. 

 

Their decision has raised safety concerns with the county government, which would prefer residents instead hike their own taxes to fund the hiring of trained deputies. But despite the risks, the move stands as a unique, some would say innovative, response to one of the country's most severe local budget crunches. 

 

The government in Josephine County, where nearly 70 percent of the land is owned by the U.S. government, had long relied on federal timber subsidies to pay the bills. When the feds terminated the funds, county officials scrambled to pass a May 2012 tax levy to make up a nearly $7.5 million budget shortfall.

 

However, the county's residents voted against the levy, and as a result the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office was gutted. The major crimes unit closed, dozens of prisoners were released from the county jail and the department reduced operations to Monday-Friday, eight hours a day.

The Sheriff’s Office then issued a press release announcing their deputies would only be responding to what they deemed “life-threatening situations.”

 

Ken Selig -- who was the longest-serving law enforcement officer in all three local agencies when he was forced to retire from the department due to cuts -- told FoxNews.com he found the sheriff’s declaration unacceptable. And he felt compelled to guard his community’s vulnerable members.

 

“Who else is going to protect you when your government can't?” Selig said.

 

Selig and his friend Pete Scaglione formed the North Valley Community Watch, a county-wide organization dedicated to helping citizens in non-life-threatening situations, primarily property crimes. It is one of a handful of community groups that have formed since the cuts. Without a robust Sheriff's Office, their mission is broader than the typical neighborhood watch group. 

 

Not only did the Sheriff's Office narrow its scope to "life-threatening" situations, but it even encouraged people who felt unsafe to relocate. “... the Sheriff's Office regretfully advises that, if you know you are in a potentially volatile situation (for example, you are a protected person in a restraining order that you believe the respondent may violate), you may want to consider relocating to an area with adequate law enforcement services,” the original release stated.

 

Selig's community watch group, looking to fill in the law enforcement cracks, now meets once a month to discuss crime and teach its approximately 100 members about personal safety. The group also has a trained “response team,” which consists of 12 people who will respond to the scene of a reported non-life-threatening situation if called.

 

Though the “response team” members do carry legal firearms, Selig said the team’s main goal is to provide a deterrent presence, and that none of them have ever fired a shot. He said those involved in his group believe there is no substitute for well-trained law enforcement, but they feel they have no other choice but to protect their community.

 

“We believe responsible citizens doing responsible things make it hard for criminals to do irresponsible things,” he said.

 

Selig believes politics are behind the county government’s decision to not funnel what funds they do have toward law enforcement. He says the county government seems to be pressuring the citizens to pass an additional tax hike they cannot afford.

 

“The key is to get the funding somewhere where the local people can get the services they need,” Selig said.

 

However, Josephine County Commissioner Keith Heck said residents of the county that opposed the tax levy need to realize there is no fat to cut.

Heck said the county has tried to live within the bounds of its fiscal realities, but citizens need to realize the options for paying for law enforcement are limited. "The county coffers are at the bottom of the barrel," he said. 

 

Heck said though he supports neighborhood watch groups and citizens being vigilant in their community, the rise of increasingly “aggressive” community watch groups make him worried the situation could escalate to violence. Watch groups have been under increasing scrutiny nationally ever since the George Zimmerman case in Florida. 

 

“These things seem good on the PR side but fail a little in the reality side,” Heck said.

 

Heck said the only real solution is for the county citizens to approve more funds.

 

“There is this little shimmer out there of some giant Santa that is going to come and drop all this money on us because we are well-meaning folks,” he said. “The sleigh is broken, the deer are dead, it’s not going to happen. We have to figure out how we are going to solve this problem.”

 

 

 

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/26/citizens-take-law-into-own-hands-after-cash-strapped-ore-county-guts-sheriff/

Edited December 26, 2013 by QuietDan

[runco]

It goes back to responsible stewardship of taxpayers money.  The Federal subsidy should have never been baked into the general fund.  Good for them!

[Dolomite_supafly]

Sounds like my town. There have been dozens of break ins in the past couple of months. I know in my little town crime is rampant, violent and non violent. In my county it is amazing at how many people are victims. Most don't even call LE anymore because our sheriff has publically, in a newspaper, said not to call unless it is a life threatening emergency. He even said if you have been burglarized come in the next business day to file a report and don't call them. I have several friends who have been robbed and called 911 but the officers never showed. When they called back to find out where the officers were they were told the officers would not be coming because the robber is likely already gone so there is nothing the officers could do.
 
Here is my little towns response to our sheriff's inability to provide even the most basic services.
http://www.wate.com/story/23975463/blaine-residents-packing-heat-to-protect-themselves-from-crime

 

So far the biggest single haul was over $100K worth of stuff from a single home.

 

And even to this day the sheriff's office has not hired more people, extended the patrol hours or started responding to alleged crimes. There were times when there were NO officers on duty, only ones on call. And even today you might have to wait more than an hour for an officer if they are responding to another call because it takes over an hour to drive from one end of the county to the other. And people wonder why I carry 100% of the time.

[JayC]

Simple solution, volunteer reserve deputies.  Problem solved.

 

I'm willing to bet this county's parks department still has employees, that the clerks office is open with 3 or 4 workers 6 days a week still...  Don't fall for the game they're playing...  local government could be cut by 50% and nobody would notice, if done correctly.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I have talked to them about reserve officers that are on call for times when a regular deputy cannot make it in a reasonable amount of time. They said they could not. They said that as soon as the reserve officers became post certified they would leave for a full time job. They said they cannot hire volunteers.

 

And yes I see county workers sitting around all the time with a bunch of time on their hands. Problem is those workers are relatives of people in out government so they cannot be fired.

[mikegideon]

I love this solution. I hope it catches on.

[Guest TNSovereignty]

Now they just need to lay claim to the 70% of their county that is federal land.  Ridiculous that wealth of this kind is held by the federal government ... the citizens using the free market would make prosperous use of real estate.  Private owners are always better stewards than AWOL federal landlords.

[Glock30]

I have talked to them about reserve officers that are on call for times when a regular deputy cannot make it in a reasonable amount of time. They said they could not. They said that as soon as the reserve officers became post certified they would leave for a full time job. They said they cannot hire volunteers.

 

And yes I see county workers sitting around all the time with a bunch of time on their hands. Problem is those workers are relatives of people in out government so they cannot be fired.

 

Why not sign these "volunteers" to $1-a-year contracts? Set the terms for how many hours a week/month/weekend/whatever they would be volunteering/working and now you have a bona fide county employee - at a volunteer price.

Edited December 26, 2013 by Glock30

[peejman]

Saw a tv spot on the town in Oregon a while back, forget which channel. Not surprisingly the tv folks were pushing the vigilante vibe, but it mostly seemed like rural country folk looking out for one another.

[mikegideon]

Saw a tv spot on the town in Oregon a while back, forget which channel. Not surprisingly the tv folks were pushing the vigilante vibe, but it mostly seemed like rural country folk looking out for one another.

 

Liberals hate armed citizens. Won't ever change

[tnguy]

Why not sign these "volunteers" to $1-a-year contracts? Set the terms for how many hours a week/month/weekend/whatever they would be volunteering/working and now you have a bona fide county employee - at a volunteer price.

You probably end up having to provide Obamacare.

[bersaguy]

All my life I have seen auxiliary police officers working on local sheriffs departments in uniforms that mostly only work on special events like parades and school activities like foot ball games and such and they are sworn in deputies with all the authority of any other deputy and many donate their time. Why can't they not do this in areas that are short of regular officers? Are they afraid that they may do a better job than the paid ones do?...........jmho  

[tnhawk]

I have talked to them about reserve officers that are on call for times when a regular deputy cannot make it in a reasonable amount of time. They said they could not. They said that as soon as the reserve officers became post certified they would leave for a full time job. They said they cannot hire volunteers.

 

And yes I see county workers sitting around all the time with a bunch of time on their hands. Problem is those workers are relatives of people in out government so they cannot be fired.

Why not replace all the county "workers" with volunteers and solve several problems at once.  There are many older retired persons who could do a better job than the paid "workers" and they have an interest in keeping tax costs down.

[Spots]

[quote name="tnhawk" post="1084455" timestamp="1388081255"]Why not replace all the county "workers" with volunteers and solve several problems at once. There are many older retired persons who could do a better job than the paid "workers" and they have an interest in keeping tax costs down.[/quote] Some county jobs can't be covered by volunteers. My old man retired from the county highway department last year, and I saw what he did for 40 years. Its hard enough to find someone willing to work for the little they do pay considering what they do. Cutting trees off banks in downpours, going in to cut snow on Christmas eve. Ive seen my dad leave home with the rowd so icy it looked like glass, go get a grader, put on a full set of chains and cut snow for 40+ hours straight. He would stop long enough to refill a coffee thermos. Who would volunteer to cover those jobs? Or school maintenance jobs? Tapatalk ate my spelling.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Why not replace all the county "workers" with volunteers and solve several problems at once.  There are many older retired persons who could do a better job than the paid "workers" and they have an interest in keeping tax costs down.

The workers who would be fired are relatives of half the government. I can assure you with great certainty that they have more job security than most on this board. We had a high price worker who passed away recently. Rather than hire in a person who worked in the office at a lower rate they hired the person's daughter, who had never worked that type of job in her life, and on top of that they started her out at the same pay as her mother who had worked for 30+ years.

 

They had another person who was in charge of two different departments. He admitted that his work load for both could be done a few days a week. Well after the last election cycle the departments were split and another person was hired at $80K salary and he has two assistants who are also relatives. The assistants make more than the guy who managed both departments for years.

 

What upsets me so bad is our taxes have literally doubled in less than 5 years while our services have been dwindling. They hire people all the time then declare they do not have the money for them to do their jobs so the workers don't do anything yet receive a paycheck. Our road maintenance guys are notorious for it. They spend all their budget hiring road crews then don't have the money to fix the roads. The road crew fixes the huge pot holes by filling them with gravel and it lasts a few days then the gravel starts getting thrown up and hitting cars.

 

Our county is corrupt. We have a guy that brags about how he was able to buy some property for $1 million dollars. But because his brother is a tax assessor that million dollar piece of property he brags about appraises at $85K and that is with a multimillion apartment complex as well as a huge office building that probably cost $500K to build. Oh and the bragging guy got caught for being a ghost employee for Knox county in which he stole $120K. He avoided jail time by agreeing to pay back the money without interest. I guarantee the two years he had the money he collected interest.

[GoneBallistic]

I have talked to them about reserve officers that are on call for times when a regular deputy cannot make it in a reasonable amount of time. They said they could not. They said that as soon as the reserve officers became post certified they would leave for a full time job. They said they cannot hire volunteers.

 

And yes I see county workers sitting around all the time with a bunch of time on their hands. Problem is those workers are relatives of people in out government so they cannot be fired.

I can see where that concern comes from, but there are people like me out there, who already have a job they have no interest in leaving, but have the training, experience, and desire to protect citizens in violent situations. I have a full time job but I could get away on short notice from time to time if someone was in a life-threatening situation. I'm not saying I would drop everything to go tell someone to stop disturbing the peace, but I would be willing to help someone in an emergency. That being said, thankfully my county has plenty of capable LEO's to handle the job. I've still entertained the thought of becoming a reserve officer though.

[Dolomite_supafly]

The reason why they leave is the officers do not make much at all and have very little benefits that they must purchase. I can understand when as of about 5 years ago the patrol officers were making $10.50 an hour and most were only working part time. I know when they get hired in they get issued a gun and body armor, everything else they must purchase and even the bare bones setup would cost upwards of $500.

[Grand Torino]

What do the libturds expect? Where did the money for law enforcement go? Into some bullshit liberal agenda instead of protecting citizens? I'm glad some has enough sense to take the bull by the horns for crissakes.

[JayC]

They're feeding you BS :)  

 

Reserve Deputy POST certification is a department run program that allows reserve deputies to 'work' for free for a department.  It is NOT the same thing as a POST certification from an academy...  they can not become full time deputies unless they attend a full-time POST certification course.

 

So, no the reserve deputies won't leave the instance they get certified for full time work, because they can't.  They can 'hire' volunteer deputies, and run them through a quick POST certification program and have them on the street alone doing low risk stuff in a few months...  There are limits, the reserve deputies can't work more than 20 hours a week and more than 100 hours a month...  They must have 80 hours of training with a certified training instructor completed in their first year, and receive 40 hours of in service training every year after that.  Once they've completed they can operate alone and unsupervised.  

 

I wouldn't suggest you stick somebody with just 80 hours of training answering 911 calls, or traffic stops...  but there is no reason they couldn't man the phones, drive out and take police reports, and do very basic investigative work...  Also, there is no reason they can't provide backup for the full time deputies.

 

Here are the rules: http://www.tn.gov/sos/rules/1110/1110-08.pdf

 

Truth is the main reason why we don't see more volunteer deputies is because police unions don't like them  they think the reserve deputies take away overtime opportunities for full time employees.  Or limit the growth in size of the full time police force (who become union members).

 

I have talked to them about reserve officers that are on call for times when a regular deputy cannot make it in a reasonable amount of time. They said they could not. They said that as soon as the reserve officers became post certified they would leave for a full time job. They said they cannot hire volunteers.

 

And yes I see county workers sitting around all the time with a bunch of time on their hands. Problem is those workers are relatives of people in out government so they cannot be fired.

 

[tnhawk]

Some county jobs can't be covered by volunteers. My old man retired from the county highway department last year, and I saw what he did for 40 years. Its hard enough to find someone willing to work for the little they do pay considering what they do. Cutting trees off banks in downpours, going in to cut snow on Christmas eve. Ive seen my dad leave home with the rowd so icy it looked like glass, go get a grader, put on a full set of chains and cut snow for 40+ hours straight. He would stop long enough to refill a coffee thermos. Who would volunteer to cover those jobs? Or school maintenance jobs? Tapatalk ate my spelling.

Use prisoners for work like this and give them a reason to stay out of trouble in the future.

[Dolomite_supafly]

They're feeding you BS :)

 

Reserve Deputy POST certification is a department run program that allows reserve deputies to 'work' for free for a department.  It is NOT the same thing as a POST certification from an academy...  they can not become full time deputies unless they attend a full-time POST certification course.

 

So, no the reserve deputies won't leave the instance they get certified for full time work, because they can't.  They can 'hire' volunteer deputies, and run them through a quick POST certification program and have them on the street alone doing low risk stuff in a few months...  There are limits, the reserve deputies can't work more than 20 hours a week and more than 100 hours a month...  They must have 80 hours of training with a certified training instructor completed in their first year, and receive 40 hours of in service training every year after that.  Once they've completed they can operate alone and unsupervised.  

 

I wouldn't suggest you stick somebody with just 80 hours of training answering 911 calls, or traffic stops...  but there is no reason they couldn't man the phones, drive out and take police reports, and do very basic investigative work...  Also, there is no reason they can't provide backup for the full time deputies.

 

Here are the rules: http://www.tn.gov/sos/rules/1110/1110-08.pdf

 

Truth is the main reason why we don't see more volunteer deputies is because police unions don't like them  they think the reserve deputies take away overtime opportunities for full time employees.  Or limit the growth in size of the full time police force (who become union members).

They will not hire anyone who is not POST certified, reserve or not. They said the last time they hired in deputies and paid for their academy most of the officers never returned to that department. After that they got sour and said they would never again pay for someone to get their post. If they don't come with it they will not get hired.

 

I am aware of that they can hire in officers as "temps" without the full training but the sheriff has said he never will.

 

There is very little side job work in my county. Matter of fact the only side jobs are when the city officers work for the county part time and vice versa.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I applied right after I got out of the military. I went up and spoke to the sheriff and he sent me tot talk to the chief. Chief said that I had more experience than anyone else in the department. He went on to say that he would hire his family and friends before hiring me. I thanked him for his honesty and walked out. Since then, and probably before, it is a family run business. A new sheriff gets elected and fired 75% of the staff and officers and hires in his family and friends. I have seen it in 4 of the last 5 sheriffs.

[Dolomite_supafly]

The way the department I worked for ran the side jobs was this. You had to contact one of a couple of chiefs for assignments then you fill out a request so they can approve you to work. Then you get paid a set amount by the chief no matter what the side job paid the chief. The side job pays the chief directly and then the chief pays the officer. I never worked a side job but I had a friend who wanted to and didn't realize the chief's assigned jobs. The officer found out about a place that was paying something like $25/hr. He filled out the request and submitted it. Shortly after that the chief called him in and thanked him for finding the side job because he didn't know about it. The chief said that because the officer found the job he would pay the officer something like $15 which was more than he would normally pay. The officer got upset and the chief said he could either take the $15 an hour or the chief would deny his request to work a side job. The chief and I would talk from time to time and I talked to him about the side job thing a few times. He said it was the best job he had. Even said he made more doing the side job racket than his regular pay. He would take a cut of any officer that worked a side job he controlled. It wasn't long after that I quit because that particular thing really upset me, especially considering the officer needing the side job REALLY needed the money.

[JayC]

Ok, so your sheriff has cut the force, and refuses to use a legal way to allow volunteers in the community to come in and help protect the community during a budget shortfall.  Sounds like you need a new Sheriff.

 

The point isn't to hire 'officers' or anybody who wants to work as a police officer...  the point is to allow upstanding members of the community, business owners, etc to volunteer to help their community then go back to their day jobs... Or it allows retired officers/deputies to come back and lend a hand....

 

Either way that type of program would help solve the lack of on duty deputies and the inability of the department to cover non-emergency calls from the community.  Oh and the cost is virtually free to the community.

 

They will not hire anyone who is not POST certified, reserve or not. They said the last time they hired in deputies and paid for their academy most of the officers never returned to that department. After that they got sour and said they would never again pay for someone to get their post. If they don't come with it they will not get hired.

 

I am aware of that they can hire in officers as "temps" without the full training but the sheriff has said he never will.

 

There is very little side job work in my county. Matter of fact the only side jobs are when the city officers work for the county part time and vice versa.

 

[Guest PapaB]

This made me laugh:

Their decision has raised safety concerns with the county government, which would prefer residents instead hike their own taxes to fund the hiring of trained deputies.

 

That's exactly why they gutted law enforcement instead of cutting less necessary county staff. It was an attempt to blackmail the populace into paying more taxes. Glad it didn't work. They should make signs saying "this house is not protected by law enforcement, please don't hurt us", then post those signs on the lawns of the counties executives.