We are having a very difficult time keeping deputies on the road and in the Detention Center. This is not just a problem for Newberry County, but in law enforcement universally.
Well trained officers are being lured away by larger agencies with higher wages, hiring bonuses and other benefits we simply cannot afford to provide. Not only are we seeing the flight of highly trained and qualified deputies, but because of the robust economy the private sector is offering significantly higher wages. So we are not getting a full applicant pool to replace those that have left for greener pastures. The lack of personnel is stretching the thin blue line thinner and is costing the tax payer more to train new employees.
Law enforcement has increasingly become dangerous work. Just this week an officer in North Carolina was slain during a traffic stop. Another officer in Mississippi was ambushed in the parking lot of his agency. We do not have to go to another state to see the carnage being waged on law enforcement. Four law enforcement officers were gunned down with one being killed in York County. Seven officers were ambushed with two being killed in Florence County. A former Newberry police officer, now working for Prisma Health, was shot in the emergency department at Laurens County Hospital. Every 110 seconds in this country a law enforcement officer is assaulted. This violence is just not attractive to someone remotely interested in wearing a badge. Yet there are a few that accept these challenges and as we saw recently in Charlotte, officers are running toward the danger while others are running away.
Due to the shortages in applicants and a need to have certified officers, law enforcement is not developing the next generation of personnel. Much like the private sector, law enforcement is ceasing to be about recruiting and training officers, but rather outbidding smaller agencies to attract their newest employees.
By poaching employees from lesser paying agencies, there is no need to have to put that employee through the lengthy and expensive training. Those agencies just reach out and offer hiring incentives, Christmas bonuses, and higher wages. Lower paying agencies like ours have a difficult time getting certified employees because we do not have the assets of our neighboring agencies.
The few that are willing to be a law enforcement officer will take more than a year to get into service. Currently there is a significant wait in getting someone into the mandated Criminal Justice Academy training. Once in training the officer will undergo four weeks of in-house training, then is away from home for an additional eight weeks of comprehensive law enforcement certification course in Columbia. When they graduate the Academy the training is not over. There is an additional six to eight weeks of field training that is required by law. Once all that is completed, the deputy is cleared to be on their own; however, they still have to acquire the real time experience to become a seasoned and effective deputy sheriff. The deputy is not available for well over a year to patrol the county and offer services while they are waiting and participating in training or observing.
It is my opinion, that seeking, hiring, training and equipping a new employee is far more expensive than finding ways to keep an existing employee. In addition, while we are short staffed, we may have to utilize off duty deputies at 1.5 times their rate of pay. Also, we may have times when we are understaffed and calls will be delayed or backup for our on-duty deputies will go wanting.
I have long held that law enforcement should be from the community and an active part of the county, but it is becoming ever more necessary to keep wages competitive to ensure that there will always be someone there to answer that call for the help.
In a day and time when it is imperative to have a highly trained law enforcement presence in our communities, we are suffering to fill those slots. It is necessary that the public and government come together to find good, qualified applicants and once those applicants are trained, keep them in our community. The safety and security of our families depend on it.