Several months after receiving $500,000 from the state to pay
for three new officers, the sheriff’s department could lose the
funding next year and be forced to layoff the new deputies the
sheriff says the department desperately needs.
Hollister – Several months after receiving $500,000 from the state to pay for three new officers, the sheriff’s department could lose the funding next year and be forced to layoff the new deputies the sheriff says the department desperately needs.
Sheriff Curtis Hill and local legislators have vowed to fight to reinstate the funding that was originally slated to pad rural law enforcement’s budgets every year, but is proving to be difficult money to count on.
The funds allotted through the Rural County Crime Prevention Act this year allowed Sheriff Curtis Hill to begin recruiting a South County deputy, a correctional officer and a much-needed school resource officer for San Benito High School. But Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger trimmed the funding in his 2005-2006 proposed budget as a way to cut costs, Hill said. Because 37 sheriff’s departments around the state utilize the funding, which totals $18.5 million, Hill said his colleagues, along with legislators and the California State Sheriff’s Association will fight for the money until the end.
“(That) $18.5 million is budget dust when you’re looking at a $107 billion (state budget),” he said. “It’s an important piece to 37 rural counties and it really provides a lot. If we lose the $500,000, people get laid off. It’s that simple.”
When the funding was first given to rural departments three years ago, it was supposed to be an annual allowance. However, it was taken away in 2003-2004 because the state couldn’t afford it. It also was cut from this year’s budget but was signed back in in a last minute act. When Hill received the money last August he said he expected to have to fight for it every year.
“And here we are,” Hill said. “That’s the problem with state government and local government. The state says they’ll help, then turn around and take it all back.”
While in Sacramento last week, Hill lobbied legislators to back rural sheriffs in their fight for the funding. Senator Jeff Denham, R-Merced, jumped on the bandwagon immediately and will spend the months leading up to the solidification of the state’s budget working with the sheriff’s association to have the money put back into the budget, he said. Three counties in Denham’s district – San Benito, Merced and Madera – will be affected if the money is eliminated.
“What may be a small part of the budget for the rest of the state is a huge issue for rural counties,” Denham said. “This is law enforcement dollars we need. Many times law enforcement money goes directly to the big cities. I want to make sure in the rural counties, our opinions are voiced.”
Denham has made this issue a priority, and he plans to meet with the governor and his finance director in an attempt to make them understand how important it is for San Benito County and the 36 other counties that rely on the money, he said.
Assemblymember Simon Salinas, D-Salinas, also plans to lobby the governor to reinstate the funding, according to his Chief of Staff, Frank Molina.
“Law enforcement needs this type of funding,” Molina said. “The governor doesn’t seem to agree with (that).”
Although the funding provided for three new positions, the sheriff’s department has yet to hire a South County deputy or school resource officer, said Lt. Pat Turturici. But a deputy should be on the school watch in about a month, and Turturici said he’s reviewing applications for a second South County deputy, which he hopes to have on patrol in three or four months.
“We’re carefully optimistic we’ll be able to get the money,” Turturici said.
The school district allocated $150,000 toward funding a school resource officer over the next three years, but if the sheriff’s department isn’t able to match that the district will still use that money to fund an officer as long as it can, said Superintendent Jean Burns-Slater.
The school district lost its school resource officer through the Hollister Police Department last summer because of budget restraints. The sheriff’s department has been trying to put a deputy at the school for seven years but hasn’t been able to work it out financially. The position, which provides more security on campus and is beneficial for crime prevention, is still being reviewed by the county counsel and is in the final stages of being approved, Turturici said.
“It’s very important,” he said. “It’s important for the community to have someone in there to talk to the kids and deal with them one-on-one.”
Hill also used the money to implement a diversity program to attempt to keep all employees abreast of the changing demographics within the community, to buy Tasers for all of his deputies and to commission a study to determine what needs to happen to construct a new sheriff’s office.
The department has yet to implement its diversity program, and Turturici said the space-needs study is in its final stages for approval.
“It’s taken a long time… but it’s going to happen,” he said. “We’ve used the money wisely.”
The governor will revise the budget in May and approve it sometime in July or August.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
