There has been a great deal of attention paid to the Sheriff’s office of late due to the recent shooting of Deputies Eric Eissinger and Dan Nelson. Just 8 months earlier, the first Deputy shot in the line of duty, Deputy Robert Duffy, was shot in an early morning ambush. Thankfully, all the men are recovering or are back on duty at this time, but the impact of these events has sent shock waves through the department and our community.

Douglas County is a beautiful community that is undergoing many changes. Over the last decade, the population has nearly doubled, yet our department has grown incrementally. Sheriff Ron Pierini has repeatedly petitioned the past County Commission for staffing increases with virtually no accommodations made for additional staff.

Last year an exhaustive staffing analysis was presented to the County Commissioners, indicating a need for an additional 45 Deputies and staff in order to keep up with the growth of the community. The plan presented called for a gradual staffing increase over 5 years. The County Commission granted a Jail Sergeant position, then later an additional 2 Traffic Patrol Deputies, prompted by the staggering number of traffic deaths last year. Further the current County Commission has added 4 more positions including a staff position. We sincerely appreciate the County Commissions’ actions to increase our staffing, however more positions are needed, and quickly. At this point, based upon the Department of Justice Staffing Analysis, we are in need of 38 positions over the next 4 years.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office maintains among the strictest hiring standards in the region and as such, our hiring pool is quite limited. Our agency competes against other regional law enforcement agencies, such as Reno Police Department, Washoe County Sheriff, Sparks Police Department, Carson City Sheriff and the Nevada Highway Patrol to attract the best candidates. For those candidates willing to relocate, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is among the highest paid in the nation. All these factors make it extremely difficult for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office to hire qualified candidates. Add to this is the fact that the Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies are at the lower tier of wage and benefits in this region, places us in an extremely difficult position. We need more staff and we need a wage and benefit package to attract the best candidates to serve our community.

As we all know, the real estate market in Douglas County has enjoyed a tremendous appreciation over the last several years. The median price of a single family home is over $300,000. Needless to say, a $38,000 annual salary will not afford housing here. Virtually all our recent hires live in Dayton and commute daily to Minden. Sadly for Douglas County, it is an equal commute to Reno, Washoe and Sparks, where wages and benefits are far superior to the existing contract for Douglas County. We are at risk to loose these valuable public servants.

Over the past several years, a substantial disparity has developed in the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies hired between 1995-2002 were hired under a contract that was fairly competitive at the time. Those Deputies hired after that period enjoyed a higher starting wage based on prevailing rates, yet no adjustment was made for those more experienced deputies. This has resulted in our experienced Patrol and Training Deputies being paid less than the new hires they are charged with training!

In order to attract and retain top quality law enforcement officers, our county must commit to increasing the staffing and providing a truly competitive wage and benefits package. Douglas County is a wonderful community and a major component of the desirability of this community is the safety it affords. We ask that you support our Sheriff and this department in urging the County Commissioners to seriously commit to correcting funding shortfalls that hamstring this agency and ultimately, your community.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Protective Association is the collective bargaining unit representing the Jail Officers, Deputy Sheriffs and Investigators of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Our membership is comprised of roughly 95% of all eligible officers in the Sheriff’s office.