Ohio sheriffs feel brunt of state funding problems

The Lancaster Eagle Gazette is reporting that the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office is a little tense these days while employees wait to find out who will be laid off.

From the story:

In one office, a chair has been decorated to represent a laid off employee; and people are not willing to talk about the cuts publicly.

"It's real difficult," said Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen. "We are meeting with the unions to see what we need to do."

The impending layoffs follow the Feb. 8 special election in which voters defeated a sales tax increase by an overwhelming margin.

"There's very little else we can do," Phalen said.

Phalen said 10 positions have already been eliminated, including four deputies, a road captain, two civilian positions, a dispatcher and a corrections officer.

They're looking at as many as two dozen more being eliminated.

The Sandusky Register is reporting that times are tough in another Ohio county sheriff's office.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more...

According to the Sandusky Register, nearly 41/2 years after the Erie County Sheriff's office acquired both an X-ray machine and handheld metal detector, they're still trying to figure out where they'll find the money to man the machines.

"It's a concern for me as a sheriff every single day," Erie County
Sheriff Terry Lyons told the Register. "You have people being sentenced to prison,
lawsuits, custody hearings ... a lot of things can be very emotional,
and things can quickly become a problem."

From the story:

Effectively using the equipment would require two deputies to be
stationed with the equipment throughout the court's eight-hour day --
but they must trade off with other deputies every two hours, because of
the ambient radiation put out by the X-ray machine.

Lyons said he won't take two deputies off road patrol to fill the
position, and hiring another deputy isn't likely to happen under the
county's austerity spending program.

And again:

At Thursday's meeting, Erie County Commissioners, Lyons, Common Pleas
judges and others discussed the unused security equipment, but ended up
"pretty much back where we started," Commissioner Nancy McKeen said.

"Without question, I do think it's needed," McKeen said. "Almost every
day, they take a knife or something off of someone there, and all you
need is one guy who's going to lose his cool.

"But you need two people to operate (the equipment), and we haven't got
the money for that kind of personnel right now."

Common Please Court Judge Roger Binnette says the absence of this expensive equipment raises the potential for a mass shooting:

"In this day and age, you've got to stop and look at situations like the
Jeep plant in Toledo," Judge Roger E. Binette said, referring to a
recent case of a man shooting several co-workers at the plant. "Is it
going to stop everything? No. But Cuyahoga, Lucas and even Huron
counties have them, and I feel like Erie County has a need for them as
well."

Binnette would do well to study recent history and realize he is pinning his hopes on a false promise. On 23 July 2003, City Councilman James Davis of Brooklyn was assassinated by an angry and deeply troubled individual in the balcony of the Council Chambers at New York City Hall. The criminal was not deterred by New York City's many gun control laws, nor by the metal detectors outside City Hall entrances. He simply found another way inside.

As for the plight of an increasing number of Ohio's county sheriffs, some law enforcement officials suggest concerned citizens ask legislators to direct funding away from the bloated Ohio State Highway Patrol, and place it back at the local level.

Ohio's 88 county sheriffs are the highest law enforcement entities in the state. They make twice as many traffic stops as the OSHP does, and they deal with far more violent crime investigations than does the OSHP, which is focused primarily on enforcing traffic laws. Ohioans deserve to have our tax dollars directed accordingly.

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