Jerome Township will add two deputies to its community in 2021, but officials want more information regarding the county’s long-term public safety plan.
The Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to add a fifth Public Safety Officer (PSO) and a School Resource Officer (SRO) to the township.
The PSO will be stationed solely in Jerome Township while the SRO will split time between two Dublin City Schools in the township, Depp Elementary School and Eversole Run Middle School.
Sheriff Jamie Patton first proposed adding the two positions at the Oct. 6 trustees meeting, then shared more information at the Dec. 15 meeting.
Trustee Chairperson Megan Sloat and Director of Departments Douglas Stewart also met recently with Patton, the Union County Commissioners and Millcreek Township Trustees, who share the cost of the four current PSOs.
Sloat said she is supportive of public protection efforts in the township, but wants to ensure the PSO program is financially sustainable in the long-term.
“Safety is our priority but we want to be reasonable with our taxpayers,” she said.
An additional PSO will cost the township $108,297.05 annually, while Jerome Township will pay 25% of the SRO’s cost, $27,485,27. Fiscal Officer Robert Caldwell noted that the township did include these costs in its 2021 budget.
Prior to the vote, Sloat, Stewart and Trustee C.J. Lovejoy each expressed concerns surrounding the cost of the program.
“Moving forward, we’ve got to figure out where the money’s coming from,” Lovejoy said.
Stewart said seeing a long-term plan for public safety in the county overall is crucial to doing so. He said he wants the township to support the Sheriff’s Office, but needs to be sure that other parts of the county are doing their part, as well.
“We need to protect our citizens, but we don’t need to do it blindly,” Stewart said.
He said he understands Jerome is a growing township, but its officials should still investigate how they fit into the larger picture. He questioned why the Sheriff’s Office recommends the area have five PSOs while many other portions of the county have none.
Sloat noted that every township had a PSO at one point, but most areas have phased out the program.
Jerome has done just the opposite, as Lovejoy said the township has added two PSO positions since 2017, including the fifth officer approved Tuesday.
All along, he said he has fully supported the PSO program and wants to see more law enforcement on the streets. However, he said he doesn’t want to make decisions that lead the Sheriff’s Office to come to Jerome Township for funding first.
“I don’t want to be on the hook every time we need another deputy,” Lovejoy said.
Sloat agreed. She said she has been “going back and forth” with whether she feels Jerome Township should approve another position.
She said she would be more comfortable supporting the addition if the county funded deputies, as well.
During their most recent meeting, Sloat said Patton told her and Stewart that he requested the county approve two additional uniformed deputies for 2021.
She said the commissioners initially rejected his request, though he indicated it is “not totally taken off the table.”
Sloat said they did not give a specific reason, but Stewart said the commissioners indicated it was due to uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lovejoy said, from what he understands, “the county’s stretched thin.”
Despite the pandemic, the county recorded record revenue in 2020. The general fund received more than $28.1 million, not including more than $3.15 million from the CARES Act.
While his fellow trustees expressed some skepticism, Trustee Joe Craft made clear that he was in full support of the additional PSO.
“I’m for adding the fifth position,” he said, recommending they approve a contract to begin July 1.
Sloat emphasized that the same group plans to meet in six months, in July, to further discuss “long-range funding” for the Sheriff’s Office.
Craft pushed for earlier approval, though, and motioned to approve a contract for the fifth PSO and new SRO.
Ultimately, all three trustees voted in favor.