Deputies, please

As with many sectors, law enforcement agencies across the country were hit hard by the Great Recession, and the job market stagnated for years afterward. But about a year ago, coincidentally right around the time when Kory Honea was appointed Butte County sheriff, he noticed movement—out of his agency.

“We started seeing people looking for positions in other agencies because they could take home more money,” he said.

Honea described his office’s trouble with recruiting and retaining officers during a recent phone interview. The Butte County sheriff’s force is 100 strong, including 83 deputy sheriffs (the rest are sergeants, lieutenants and captains). But Honea said he needs more—BCSO recently announced it’s hiring for14 vacant positions, which include two lieutenants, four sergeants and eight deputy sheriffs.

Just covering patrols has been a challenge, Honea said. In February, despite concerns about fatiguing his deputies, Honea switched from 10-hour to 12-hour shifts “because we needed to provide more patrol coverage with a limited staff,” he said. “You can always do more with more resources. Because of the vacancies, we’ve had to shift resources from other important assignments into our patrol force, to ensure we at least have enough patrol deputies.”

As a result, he’s had to shift staff to patrols, away from critical roles within the department—two detective positions, one gang detective and one position on the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force. Furthermore, deputies previously designated to the remote areas of the county have been shifted into regular patrol.

Honea emphasized that he’s not complaining, but rather addressing the reality of his agency’s staffing situation. He said the Butte County Board of Supervisors and county administration have demonstrated willingness to help find a solution, and in the meantime he’s instructed his force to respond to all calls for service—even if there’s a delay.

“When time allows, we’ll come back and handle those calls we weren’t able to initially get to,” Honea said. “I know that’s frustrating, but I think it’s better than saying, ‘We’re just not going to be able to deal with that.’”

From the perspective of District 3 Supervisor Maureen Kirk, the sky isn’t falling regarding public safety.

“I think things are better than they could be, with staffing levels so low,” she said. “Frankly, I haven’t heard from [constituents] about slow responses.”

In February, the supervisors voted unanimously to approve Honea’s request to increase deputy and sergeant pay by 5 percent in an attempt to boost recruitment. The $428,173 cost of implementing the plan was offset by the elimination of four vacant deputy allocations, which saved $383,737, but necessitated increasing shifts from 10 to 12 hours.

The plan didn’t have the impact Honea hoped for. “We’ve had people leave the department since then and we’re still having difficulty with laterals.”

“Laterals” are candidates who already have been trained and have experience working in law enforcement. They’re appealing for obvious reasons—they don’t need training, which is expensive, and it takes less time to get them out patrolling the streets—but Honea hasn’t had any success recruiting them. Meanwhile, he’s lost deputies to Chico and Oroville police departments as well as municipal departments in Sacramento and the Bay Area. It comes down to pay, he said.

“I’ve been told by people who have left that, in some cases, they’re bringing home $800 to $1,000 more a month when they go to work for those other agencies,” Honea said. “In all of those cases, the deputies have told me they enjoy working for my office, how they like being Butte County deputy sheriffs, but when they looked at compensation they needed to make a decision in the best interest of their families. I can’t fault them for that.”

Board of Supervisors Chairman Doug Teeter said the panel has discussed staffing issues at BCSO in closed session but has yet to reach a resolution.

“Definitely, the problem of pay differential between Oroville and Chico and [Butte County] is part of the discussion,” he said. “You either raise the pay or take the gamble that when municipal departments fill up, people will stay employed here.”

Teeter declined to get more specific about the closed session discussions because the board has yet to weigh in publicly, but he made assurances of the supervisors’ commitment to public safety.

“It’s just a matter of what Butte County can afford without putting our budget in danger,” he said. “We have a lot of other departments that need support, too.”