Letters to the Editor
Letter to the Editor | Pierce County deputies deserve better pay — and politicians who support them
If you happened to read my previous letter, I detailed the inadequate staffing levels at the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and how it would get worse. To my understanding, the detachment should have a lieutenant, two sergeants, an investigator, and eighteen patrol deputies. It has been operating with only sixteen patrol deputies. Typically, those eighteen patrol deputies make up six 3 person squads that make for 24 hour coverage (with some overlap) of the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsulas and some islands. The two unfilled spots means that two of those squads operate at the minimum staffing of two. Imagine an unfortunate situation of say, a domestic violence incident on Herron Island that requires both deputies to respond via a ferry. Now imagine a home invasion robbery on Fox Island occurring whilst the deputies are on Herron Island. How long do you think you will have to wait while your home is invaded? You can probably brew coffee and make dinner for your new house guests prior to the arrival of help. But this was not the update. This is the current status.
My research tells me that sheriff’s deputies’ base pay is about 20% less than that of the Tacoma police officers’ pay. And the benefits are superior at TPD as well. And you might have seen in the News Tribune that TPD has now been authorized to pay a $50,000 bonus (in three stages) to lateral officers hired. Would you leave Pierce County to make an additional $30,000 per year with better benefits and a $50,000 bonus?
It should be noted that Gig Harbor Now editor Vince Dice has told me that he spoke with the Sheriff’s Department public information officer recently. He was told that only two resignations were submitted recently. Here is my update. I have been told by others within the department that they will be losing eleven deputies to the Tacoma Police Department within the next two weeks. I was also told that amongst those eleven, our local detachment will be losing three patrol deputies and a sergeant. I hope I have been misinformed. But please consider this for a moment. A sergeant, and in this case one with 20 years of experience, is leaving to become a patrol officer with TPD. That is how inadequate sheriff’s department pay has become. You might think the department will just shift other deputies to the Peninsula Detachment. But will they? Where are the deputies going to come from when seven more are leaving now too? The department has run at a ridiculous staffing deficit for years and now it is getting worse. A reasonable national standard for law enforcement officers is two officers per 10,000 population. The department exists now on a third of that. And it will not stop getting worse until there is a change.
What can be changed? The department can lower hiring standards. If you can meet the current standard, why would you work for Pierce County? You can make tens of thousands more per year elsewhere. So, yes, lowering the standards is perhaps an option, but with lower standards come increased liability and a greater failure rate. Is that tenable? I think not. The only real choice is to offer a competitive pay and benefits package.
What can you do? You only must read national and local headlines to see what group of people always seem to support policies and spending that benefit criminals. Here is what I would recommend. Immediately work to ensure that the sheriff’s deputies are supported. This means voting for Pierce County Charter candidates that will support them and keep our elected Sheriff independent of the Pierce County Executive, Ryan Mello. You voted in Deborah Krishnadasan, Michelle Caldier, Adison Richards, and Robyn Denson. Tell your representatives what you want, and that you would like them to make your family’s safety a priority. Tell Ryan Mello too. If they do not work to ameliorate this catastrophe, show them the door next election. Beyond that, you should look to your family’s safety yourself. Or leave. Criminals are not kept in the dark about law enforcement levels. They will take even more advantage of this than they have been. But maybe it is simpler to just fix things.
Richard Folden
Gig Harbor