Sheriffs distressed about proposed budget cuts

Law enforcement has traditionally been viewed as a profession largely protected from layoffs that have impacted other industries.

However, a round of state budget cuts announced for the coming year has local sheriffs concerned that they will have to lay off deputies and cut back on crime prevention and other programs.

The state compensation board released allocation numbers for each sheriff’s office earlier this month that reflected cuts as high as 27 percent. Sheriffs say that degree of cuts can’t be absorbed without sacrifices to services, programs and people.

In Campbell County, the cuts could mean eight deputies laid off; in Bedford, nine; in Amherst, nine; in Appomattox, five; and in Nelson, up to four.

Campbell County Sheriff Terry Gaddy said the state funding cut amounts to an almost 27 percent gap in the office’s expected funding for fiscal year 2011.

“When a citizen calls 911, they expect someone to be there and to be there right away,” Gaddy said. “You just can’t cut this amount of deputies and have a timely response to calls.”

Those calls have increased some 15 percent in just the past year, and 40 percent in the past six years in Campbell County.

Efforts have been made to reduce the department’s operating costs by keeping the thermostat low to save on the power bill at the office. Deputies no longer leave their cars running when they respond to calls and they are doing more directed patrols rather than cruising through the county.

“For Gov. Kaine’s budget to go out and say you need to cut $634,511 out of your budget next year — it’s virtually impossible to do and make sure citizens get the response they’ve had in the past and the response they expect now.”

The Campbell County Sheriff’s Office budget is a little more than $4 million, with some $2.3 million provided by the state, which funds mostly salaries of the office’s 62 deputies, and $1.7 million from the county, which funds things like the office, patrol cars and other necessities.

“We will have to become reactive to crime and we need not go back to that again,” Gaddy said. “I’ve been telling deputies and police officers at the academy my entire 34 years that you may not be paid the most, but you will never have to worry about being laid off. When times are tough, you are needed. That will change this year if this goes through. What I’ve been telling everybody for over three decades will not be true.”

For Amherst County, the cuts amount to an almost 23 percent funding reduction at a time when calls for service jumped by more than 3,600, totaling 32,107 calls in 2009.

“Ultimately, our communities will suffer,” Amherst County Sheriff L.J. Ayers said. “Our agencies are suffering now, but the final blow will be to the community.”

Ayers employs 68, but about 25 of those deputies are dedicated to the jail. Amherst and Appomattox are the only local counties that operate their own jails.

Appomattox County Sheriff Wilson Staples said services will be affected with cutbacks this severe.

“This proposal will set the operations of this office and our serviceability back to levels of a decade or more ago,” Staples said. “A possible reduction in personnel has to be considered. Some services people have become accustomed to, that people expect, would have to be cut back.”

For example, Staples said the department has had a third shift of officers for the past 12 or so years. That might have to be eliminated and the department returned to an on-call system for the early morning hours.

“People have come to expect that and it is necessary,” Staples said. “When people call law enforcement they expect it as soon as they call. If a person has to get up and get their clothes on, get into a frost-covered car to respond, the time will be substantially increased.”

For Staples, the cuts could mean four to five positions out of 33.

Bedford County stands to lose about nine out of 65 positions if the cuts are passed. Bedford County Sheriff Michael J. Brown said that means taking the school resource officers out of the schools and back on the road. It could also mean removing animal control officers and reducing civil process and no longer assisting other agencies like the Virginia State Police.

“All the sheriffs I’ve worked with consider this the most serious time they have ever faced,” Brown said. “We don’t know at this point. We really don’t know.”

The Nelson County Sheriff’s Department is looking at losing almost $150,000 in state money for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, which could mean losing three to four deputy positions out of a department of 14. The sheriff’s total budget is $1.3 million.

Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks said the loss of that much funding will have a “huge impact” on the department and the officer’s response time to emergency calls.

“We’re not going to take this laying down. We’re going to fight this to the bitter end,” he said. “It’s about the people of the community. We want to get them the best bang for their buck.”

Brooks encouraged the residents of Nelson County to contact their senator and congressman to let them know how concerned they are and what they think about the possible cuts to the sheriff’s department.

The Lynchburg Sheriff’s Office functions are slightly different than those of the other sheriff’s offices. The office, consisting of 27 deputies, does not handle law enforcement duties but is responsible for court security, civil process, mental commissions and other programs.

Chief Deputy Don Sloan fears that the budget cuts will mean other programs, such as the department’s Project Lifesaver, which tracks Alzheimer’s and other patients prone to wandering away, might have to be cut back.

The state provides some $1.3 million of the Lynchburg Sheriff’s Office budget and the city provides just more than $837,000, which will likely be cut by 10 percent.

“I remember some lean years,” Lynchburg Sheriff Ron Gillispie said. “I’ve been doing this for 40 years, but I’ve seen nothing like this.”

- Nelson County Times reporter Erin McGrath contributed to this report.