Thanks to severe staffing shortages within the Hollister Police
Department, San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies have stepped up
their assistance to officers by responding to more than half the
calls for service within the city limits, according to police.
Hollister – Thanks to severe staffing shortages within the Hollister Police Department, San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies have stepped up their assistance to officers by responding to more than half the calls for service within the city limits, according to police.
While the sheriff’s department and police department have historically had a good working relationship, with the shortage of cops at the police department deputies are working to cover many calls officers simply can’t get to, according to police Sgt. Ray Wood.
“They’ve assisted us more in the last six to eight months than they ever have. For every call we’re dispatched to, (they assist us with) at least 50 percent,” Wood said. “They spend a lot of time around the city. Whether they’re short-handed, I don’t know, but without a doubt, we’re short-handed.”
Sheriff Curtis Hill said the issue of his deputies helping out their fellow officers isn’t a problem and is something the two departments do for each other. He said it doesn’t take time away from them responding to calls in the county and if deputies ever need help, police officers are always willing to give it.
“We work great with everybody,” Hill said. “If the PD needs my guys for half a day, fine, great.”
And while Wood said officers do return the favors at times, it’s not on par with the sheriff department’s assistance.
Because the sheriff’s department is located in downtown Hollister and both agencies use the same radio frequency, often times sheriff’s deputies are in the area and will assist. But other times officers will call on their help specifically if they know other officers are tied up and there’s no backup, Wood said.
“We don’t rely on them to help us on every call, but if they’re available it helps us make the decision whether to go into a call and resolve the problem or wait on the street while a crime is occurring,” he said. “We can’t just respond to a call without knowing there’s some backup coming for us.”
Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller echoed Hill’s sentiments that both departments have a good working relationship.
“From my perspective, this is a good, healthy working relationship where each side chips in and doesn’t get into turf battles or ‘It’s not my problem.’ Everybody knows everybody and it’s a good feeling,” Miller said. “But there are times when because of the volume of calls or because of our short staffing, if it weren’t for them we’d have a tough time either resolving calls or responding to them.”
Miller said the sheriff’s department is not incurring additional costs by assisting officers because the deputies are already on duty and said it could cut into the deputies’ time patrolling the county. But because the city is cash-strapped and money for more cops simply isn’t there, it’s something that has to be done.
While the department’s full staffing level is 32 sworn officers, only 23 able-bodied police officers are available for patrol, Miller said.
“It’s a mutual assistance thing,” Miller said. “To ensure units are available we’d have to increase the department substantially, and there’s no money to do that.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
