Lack of detention officers puts strain on Payson law enforcement - Payson Roundup

Gila County needs 22 more detention officers to keep the Payson Jail open 24 hours a day, but Gila County Sheriff’s Office Commander Dennis Newman said he’s fighting with Walmart and McDonald’s for applicants.

“It hinged on when they raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Our detention folks were making almost that,” he said. “Those other places are a much less stressful job.”

Detention officers cannot arrest people, but they oversee prisoner transport, court security, and even extraditions to other states.

Newman has worked in law enforcement for 40 years, but he’s never seen this kind of staffing trouble before.

“We were starting to notice a sharp increase in people leaving detention last year,” he said. “It seemed like it was a mass exodus … I’m supposed to have 47.5 detention officers for both ends of the county … but at the end of this month, I will be down 24 people.”

Newman’s making it work by scheduling 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. and vice versa schedules in Globe, and sending Payson detention officers down there a couple of days a week, then they work in Payson the rest of their shift.

“It’s all logistics to balance everything,” he said.

Right now, the Payson Jail runs on a modified schedule from 6 a.m. to midnight, but between December and February, the jail completely closed.

This put pressure on the Payson Police Department that remains to this day.

“It’s open during the day, but throughout the nighttime hours, we have to once again transport our prisoners to Globe,” said Chief Ron Tischer.

He estimates when the jail completely closed for two months, the town paid more than $8,000 in overtime, gas and mileage on the vehicles to transport prisoners.

“The costs to the Town are starting to add up again,” said Tischer. “The Payson Jail closure has created problems for Globe PD (they deal with our prisoners after release from jail), and residents of Payson that need to travel to Globe to pick someone up after being released from jail. The Payson Jail closure is a significant financial burden on the Town and is impacting our staffing levels.”

The lack of detention officers has also affected the courts. Recently, Chief Deputy County Attorney Brad Soos convinced Judge Bryan Chambers to keep a Payson defendant in Globe for sentencing rather than taking him north due to staffing.

“Basically, the jails are understaffed and overcrowded. Understaffed due generally to funding for salaries and conditions. Overcrowded due to the judges granting too many continuances, even before COVID,” he said after the hearing. “Transporting a prisoner from Globe to Payson, and back, ties up a detention officer for most of the day, and makes the situation worse.”

Sheriff Adam Shepherd recognizes the burden the lack of detention officers puts on other agencies, but he’s flummoxed why young folks don’t apply.

“It’s a great job for someone interested in law enforcement,” he said.

Shepherd said a high school graduate could work as a detention officer and make $35,000 or so a year with health, retirement, vacation, and sick time benefits. If they like the law enforcement career path, when they turn 21, all they need to do is pass the entrance exam to get going at the academy to become a deputy.

Newman said the sheriff’s office is currently in talks with Payson to “work out the overtime stress for them.”

He also has two high school seniors who have participated in the citizens academy interested in applying as detention officers, but right now his job feels like he’s “playing chess with a pawn and a knight.”

After his long career Newman would like to retire, but he won’t leave until the jail works smoothly to keep the citizens of Gila County safer.

For more information, please call the Gila County Sheriff’s Office at 928-425-4449.

source: https://www.paysonroundup.com/news/local/lack-of-detention-officers-puts-strain-on-payson-law-enforcement/article_99965a06-e576-540c-8091-fe95bd7b814b.html

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