Seven Solutions to Fix the Jail Crisis
I have outlined below the two major roadblocks (funding & personnel) repeated constantly by our local “leaders” , and my proposed solutions to each of them. I will go more in depth into each of these solutions in future articles. And please understand that while there may be some legitimate reasons why some of these solutions will be difficult to implement, or that there would be unpleasant side effects, you need to weigh all of this with the realization that releasing criminals everyday due to an overcrowded jail is unacceptable and must immediately come to an end, no matter the cost. The future of Coos County must be that of a lawful and civilized community.
PROBLEM: “We do not have the money to fund a fully operational jail.” The first step to solve this problem is recognizing that the previous statement is a lie. The county DOES have the money to fund a jail, but they have chosen to distribute money from the general fund to pay for unnecessary budget increases for all departments and other wasteful measures.
SOLUTION #1 - Reverse budget increases that were given to departments other than law enforcement. Yes, this includes reversing the 10.7% raise the Board of Commissioners gave themselves last year. There are millions of dollars of funds that were handed out to less critical departments over the past few years. I will discuss this in detail in a follow up article about the county budget.
SOLUTION #2 - Pass an Emergency Declaration allowing the redirect of funds that have been appropriated for other purposes, such as the $29 million for Coos Health & Wellness. Here is a sample of the state laws that allow repurposing funds: "As necessary to respond to an emergency situation, the governing body of a municipal corporation may: (b) Make appropriations for estimated expenditures out of any source of available funds, including unappropriated fund balances" (ORS 294.481.1.b). And here is a draft of an emergency declaration that the Commissioners can sign today.
SOLUTION #3 - Eliminate or reduce expenses in lower priority departments. Public safety is the #1 priority of our county government, and should be funded FIRST before a single penny is distributed to other departments. So what departments do I think could be eliminated? I do not believe the Commissioners should be paid, and eliminating them from the payroll would save taxpayers almost $400k a year. Other departments that could be cut would be the Assessors, IT, Finance, and even the auxiliary units of the Sheriff’s Department such as the Dunes Division (the safety of our neighborhoods and a fully staffed jail is higher priority than patrolling the dunes).
PROBLEM: “We do not have the personnel to operate the jail at full capacity.” While this might be true at the moment, it is only by choice that the Sheriff is unable to find employees out of the SIXTY THOUSAND people who live in Coos County. The Sheriff is unnecessarily choosing to eliminate candidates from the field of potential JAIL employees by holding them to the much higher standards necessary for a “commissioned police officer” who go out on patrol.
SOLUTION #4 - Move deputies from patrol to the jail. This one is certainly controversial, but it can work if managed correctly. From my talks with the Sheriff, it sounds like moving around 20 patrol deputies to the jail would open up the jail to full capacity (250 beds). This would obviously cause the patrol side to go down to only 1-2 deputies available for calls at any given time, but that is where adding Reserve Officers would account for this loss (more on this below). Additionally, the Sheriff can work with the city police departments to form mutual aid agreements that would cover a good portion of the unincorporated areas of the county. Emergency calls outside city limits would be handled by the remaining patrol deputies and Reserve Officers. A sharp increase in recruitment and training for the reserve units would be necessary to ensure the public is minimally impacted by changes on the patrol side of the Sheriff’s Office.
SOLUTION #5 - Hire “Corrections Officers” instead of “Patrol Deputies” to work at the jail. The qualifications standards and certification process for “corrections officers” are less strict and less time consuming than the process of hiring a Patrol Deputy. The Sheriff has made the choice to only hire candidates for the jail who meet the standards required for a Patrol Deputy when he is not mandated to do so by state law. He is making that choice, and that choice is forcing the jail to operate at 20% capacity. Additionally, citizens hired as “corrections officers” have an entire year after being hired to receive their certification, according to state law.
SOLUTION #6 - Hire regular employees to work the jail. Based on my research of the Oregon Revised Statutes, the Sheriff is not mandated to have “corrections officers” in every position at the jail. I have even yet to find any state laws mandating that the Sheriff have a single “corrections officer” working at the jail (although the Sheriff has claimed these laws exist). There are many jobs at the jail that can be filled by citizens who do not have a “corrections officer” certificate, but as far as I can tell the Sheriff is choosing not to hire people for those positions.
SOLUTION #7 - Have volunteers work at the jail. A few years ago when our jail was operating at fully capacity, it was staffed in part by volunteers, also known as Reserve Officers. If all the solutions above have been tried and we still need helping hands at the jail, then why would we not bring back the policy of allowing volunteers to work at the jail? People will tell you that it is not allowed by state law (false) or that they need to be commissioned police officers (also false) or that the insurance company would not allow it (false again). Here is an article from way back in 2002 when our local leadership worked hard to put together a program called the Citizen Police Academy. Why does this local option not exist anymore?
IN CONCLUSION…
There is simply no legitimate reason to keep the jail closed and continue the daily release of criminals which endangers the public and holds no one accountable for their actions. Ultimately, I believe the best and most realistic plan would be a combination of all of the solutions presented above. We need immediate action, and if it does not come from the current leadership then we need to begin the process of removing them from office and replacing them with patriots who are willing to work for the people. Those who choose to commit crimes against people or property need swift and effective consequences. Our leaders are failing us, and we deserve better.