Staffing shortages at the Union County Sheriff’s Office has the county’s chief law enforcement officer
actively pursuing recruits to fill open positions. This time, however, he’s trying a more personal approach to the recruitment process.
Sheriff Jamie Patton told the county commissioners on Wednesday that his office is looking at peace officer training academies across the state and, in some cases, he’s visiting those schools in person.
“It’s a commitment of time that you have to drive across the state in the evenings,” Patton said. “Whatever it takes to get qualified candidates. As I’ve said time after time, we’re all looking for the cream of the crop, the best of the best, and what fits our community and agency.”
Patton said of the recruits he talked to, many of them appreciate the support of a county sheriff or police chief showing up in person. In some cases, he said, it gives recruits more of an incentive to consider those agencies that go the extra mile.
The Sheriff’s Office does have a recruit lined up to join the department but that will be sometime in January of 2023 after training has completed.
“We kind of stepped out of our comfort zone this year,” Patton said. “We asked to send uncertified OPOTA (Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy) folks to the academy and pay for the academy.”
The candidate is a Marysville High School and Cedarville University graduate who will enter the academy in August.
Patton said the issue isn’t unique to the county and that numbers are down in general for those attending academies.
“People are jumping,” Patton said. “We’ve had a few young deputies say, ‘I’m not so sure this is the profession I want to be in. I didn’t realize what this was going to entail.’”
In the past, academy class sizes were around 25 to 26 cadets and are now down to 11 or 12 cadets, said Patton.
Union County is currently down six deputies due to retirement and other factors such as Deputy Jake Matejko being put on paid administrative leave following a shooting in Mill Valley in May that resulted in a death.
Patton said this staffing shortage has happened for a variety of reasons but competitive wages and a reduced candidate pool are high on the list of factors.
“We’re all in the same boat. Everybody is hiring,” Patton said. “We’re in that central Ohio region where there are some agencies in the Columbus region that are hiring large numbers of people, positions they have to fill. We’re competing with salaries that are very, very difficult to compete with.”
Patton said there are two conditional offers on the table with two candidates and he is just waiting on the process to conclude.
A decision on one offer is expected this week.
The second candidate interviewed with the Sheriff’s Office earlier this week and was initially part of a line of three interviewees but two backed out, Patton said.
The remaining candidate has the offer, then will be subjected to a polygraph test and background investigation.
“It’s a process, so that’s still two to three weeks out,” Patton said.
The Sheriff’s Office is also short on staff on the administrative side including the CCW clerk, but making moves to fill those positions as well.
“We have one civilian in background right now for the two open communication officer positions in the 9-1-1 center,” Patton said. “It looks like she is going to make it through the background. There’s nothing there so far that’s led us to think she wouldn’t make it through.”
He added an administrative clerk has been hired which will help on the human resources side of things also.