The state law enforcement academy is adding more classes, presenting a solution to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office’s mounting staffing problem.
With more space, the academy found space in upcoming classes for seven deputies who were hired by the sheriff’s office but had been waiting for an opening to take the required training.
“I believe the academy recognized the need for us to get people through the academy,” Undersheriff Mike Cooke said. “We made a really good case that we need them.”
Cooke and Chief Criminal Deputy John Chapman testified before the Senate Law and Justice Committee last month, detailing the dilemma that the underfunded academy had put them in.
The sheriff’s office hired a record 17 deputies last year to keep up with retirements on its rapidly aging force of baby boomers. Some of the newly hired deputies were stuck waiting months to get into the police academy. A 4 1/2 – month training is required to become a commissioned officer.
So, while the agency was replenishing its numbers, deputies were still working extra shifts. Overtime costs increased more than 50 percent in the first three months of the year and the agency did some reshuffling, sending major crimes and child abuse detectives to cover patrol shifts.
Chapman said that with relief in sight, he expects to begin adding deputies back to those specialty units by the fall.
The move also means that the sheriff’s office is no longer considering putting on an academy of its own any time soon.
“We’re happy about that,” Cooke said. “We never wanted to be in a position to run our own academy. It would have been a last resort.”
The agency is better off, Cooke said, because the state academy is less expensive and provides consistent training. Plus, the sheriff’s staff won’t be diverted from normal duties.
Though the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, which puts on the academy, is only funded to run 10 basic law enforcement classes a year, Executive Director Sue Rahr said she is scheduling 18 classes to meet demand.
“As of today, we have over 170 people on the waiting list,” Rahr said. “If we don’t add those classes, that backlog is going to continue grow.”
Rahr said that she is anticipating receiving funding for the added classes after receiving positive feedback from the governor’s office.
Tara Lee, spokeswoman for Gov. Jay Inslee, said the governor supports funding more classes but didn’t commit to funding the full $2.4 million needed, nor did the office say how it would pay for it.
More than 50 legislators signed a letter encouraging Inslee to put the money into his proposed budget, Lee confirmed.
Rahr said that part of the problem is the process, since it requires her to plan for the demand three years in advance.
“It’s an educated guess at best,” she said. “It’s a very, very broken system.”
Even though it’s risky to put on an academy that hasn’t secured funding, Rahr said it’s necessary. When she thinks of the alternatives, she thinks of the effect it has on communities, including Clark County.
“It’s hurting officers, and it’s really having an impact on public safety,” she said.