Many rural counties and areas like Marshall County face the same issues with no clear way to address said issues; not enough deputies. Many of the counties are plagued with not having enough deputies to cover entire counties.
The police departments cover the municipalities and cities, while the sheriff’s departments are usually left patrolling the outlying areas. Meaning, city police typically have smaller areas to cover.
Cities also are given a budget by the city. This budget typically allows the police chief to be able to pay his officers.
A county sheriff does not really get that luxury, they are afforded a small budget by the Commissioner’s Court, but typically, they have to figure out ways to cover the extra costs.
Due to having a small budget, hiring extra deputies is not in the cards for the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office. On any given shift, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department has one officer per shift. With Marshall County not being a small one, this means that it could take the deputy thirty minutes to answer a call on the other side of the county.
Marshall County Sheriff Danny Cryer said sometimes during the summer, he has two deputies.
“Most of the time, if I have more than one deputy, they are assigned different tasks,” Cryer said. “If I have two on in the evenings, one is assigned a Corp Property while the other takes calls. If I have two on during the daytime, one is usually the sexual assault investigator while the other takes calls.”
One way many residents believe the county can address the officer shortage is employing reserve officers. The one thing to remember, though, is just because they are reserve officers, it does not mean free labor.
The sheriff’s office must equip the reserve officer with a police cruiser, uniforms, workman’s compensation, and often times, a pistol.
A fully equipped police cruiser can run anywhere between $60,000 to $70,000, and that is not including the maintenance to keep it in tiptop condition.
One uniform shirt is $30 and a pair of pants is $40. A badge for the officer to carry is $90 and the collar brass is $10.
A good utility belt can cost anywhere from $200 to $500. If the reserve officer does not have his own pistol, the sheriff’s office must get one for the officer. Also, each officer must be covered by workman’s compensation, just in case he is injured while on duty.
Once the first hurdles of equipping the officers are figured out, then the reserve officer candidate must pass a multitude of requirements put in place by the state of Oklahoma.
The following are the requirements according to the state of Oklahoma.
• Employing agency must have conducted a background investigation prior to commissioning as a peace officer.
• Must have fingerprint clearance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation & the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
• Must have undergone a psychological evaluation by a psychologist licensed by the State of Oklahoma and has been evaluated to be suitable to serve as a peace officer in the State of Oklahoma.
• Must be a high school graduate or have a GED equivalency certificate. (Minimum requirements)
• Must not be participating in a deferred sentence agreement for a felony, a crime involving moral turpitude or a crime of domestic violence, and does not have any criminal charges pending in any court in this state, another state, in tribal court or pursuant to the United States Code.
• Must not be currently the subject to an order of the Council revoking, suspending, or accepting a voluntary surrender of peace officer certification.
• Must not be currently undergoing treatment for a mental illness, condition or disorder.
• Be at least 21 years of age.
• Be a United States citizen or in resident alien status, as defined by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
• Must not have been convicted in state or federal court for any felony, crime of moral turpitude, or crime of domestic violence.
• Must not be the subject of a revocation or voluntary surrendering of a peace officer certification in another state for a violation of any law or rule or in settlement of any disciplinary action in such state.
• Must not have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution. If so, may attend training or work as a peace officer after the Council receives notification of a psychological evaluation conducted by a licensed physician, psychologist or licensed mental health professional which attests and states by affidavit that the officer and the evaluation test data of the officer have been examined and that, in the professional opinion of the physician, psychologist or licensed mental health professional, the officer is psychologically suitable to return to duty as a peace officer (70 OS § 3311 J 1 f).
• Must submit all required documentation and enrollment materials prior to the certification training.
• Must pass a reading, writing and comprehend test (Oklahoma Career Techs P.O.S.S.E.) andresults must be included in Reserve Academy Application
• Must not have the entry of a final order of protection against them.