‘We're just struggling with the manpower‘; Thurston Co. Sheriff declares staffing emergency

THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. - A critical shortage of deputies is leaving Thurston County residents dangerously exposed, and the sheriff is issuing an emergency declaration.

Right now, there are only 36 total deputies for the 150,000 residents living where the sheriff’s office patrols.

Over the weekend, the sheriff’s office reported there were no available deputies for about an hour, due to all of them responding to calls.

Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders says they may have to move non-emergency calls and some property crimes to online reporting, depending on call volumes.

The staffing emergency also means shifting sworn officers into different roles, and changing job requirements.

"You can almost assume at any time during the day, there’s somebody here working on overtime to meet those minimum staffing numbers," said Lt. Mike Brooks. "Instead of lowering our minimum staffing levels and increasing the dangers for everybody, we’re trying to shuffle positions around to maintain that staffing level the best we can."

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office is listed as second to last in the state when it comes to the ratio of deputies to citizens.

Brooks says the office also struggles to remain competitive with pay in comparison to other departments.

"The easy solution is more people, more bodies working, if we had 20, 30, 40 more people it would make a tremendous difference. But at the same time those people can’t start tomorrow like a traditional job," said Brooks.

Brooks said it takes about a year for a deputy to get hired, trained, and then working patrol.

"We’re just struggling with the manpower and the time to handle all the call volume that comes in through the day," said Brooks.

There is a proposed plan to raise taxes to help with staffing issues, but that decision would be determined by the people through an upcoming ballot measure.

There are currently 36 active patrol deputies out of a possible 56. The Sheriff’s office is actively seeking candidates to fill vacancies in both patrol and corrections.

For more information, visit the Thurston County website.