Law enforcement reacts to proposal

Would Glenn County voters support any type of sales tax increase that could be used to stabilize funding for local law enforcement?

"Limited resources has been a problem for years," Orland police Sgt. Joe Vlach said Thursday.

Earlier this week, the Glenn County Board of Supervisors dipped into reserve funds in an effort to soften the budget cuts to the Sheriff's Office that would have effectively ended 24—hour street patrols in the county.

Original cuts proposed exceeded $400,000, but were reduced to about $278,000, which Sheriff Larry Jones said would allow around—the—clock patrols to continue.

County leaders warned, however, that further cuts are still possible depending on budget decisions at the state level, which are not expected until some time in August.

"We may be back here in a month with tears in our eyes," Supervisor Mike Murray said following Tuesday's vote.

Thin blue line getting thinner

Had the Sheriff's Office been forced to shut down their patrol rotation daily, the equally short—staffed, cash—strapped police departments in Willows and Orland would likely have followed suit.

Willows police Officer Richard Gridley said he was relieved by the board's decision.

Gridley, 29, has worked graveyard shifts in Willows since joining the department more than three years ago. Frequently, there are significant portions of his nightly shifts where Gridley is the only Willows officer on duty.

"It was definitely scary thinking there was not going to be any back up units if I needed it," Gridley acknowledged.

Officers said there seems to be a public misconception about the number of police officers currently working in the county.

"People see three or four cars with (police light bars) and assume it's the same agency," Gridley said. "But, usually it's a combination of us or Orland, the sheriff and (the California Highway Patrol.)"

All four agencies depend on each other for officer safety.

"When we're all this thin (staffing—wise), we have to be just one big family," sheriff's Deputy Cale Smith said.

Smith, 30, has been a deputy sheriff for more than three years, also working nights, and said interagency cooperation is the only way the public safety system works.

"When I'm covering Hamilton City, for example, if we get a domestic violence call — which is one of the most dangerous calls in law enforcement — it's Orland (police) that back us up," Smith said. "We're all so small that we have to look out for each other, but that does take an officer out (of their territory)."

Orland police Officer Grant Landis, 31, faces the same situation on his beat and said he hopes funding improves in the near future.

"We still need more officers on the street, in my opinion," Landis said. "Just having officers visible can be a crime deterrent."

Several open murder cases are going cold as the investigators and detectives in each department are forced to catch routine patrol calls, spending several days each week writing traffic tickets and chasing stray dogs.

The same can be said for the explosion this year in property crimes and burglaries countywide.

"Guys can't work their major cases," Landis said, "and we're just barely hanging on to what we have now."

Budget on the ballot

Following Tuesday's vote, Murray challenged the local law enforcement unions to bring a ballot proposal to voters in November asking for either a quarter- or half-cent sales tax increase that would be used specifically for law enforcement.

However, Susie Alves, Glenn County's assistant elections clerk, said it is already too late for such a measure to make the November ballot.

"However, the Board of Supervisors has the authority to pass a resolution ordering such a proposal to be on the November ballot," Alves explained.

For his part, Murray, who spent his career in law enforcement before retiring in 2007, seemed willing to help, personally delivering the ballot information to two of the four local law enforcement unions on Thursday.

"If that's the only way it can get on the ballot, the unions should get on the next agenda and ask the board to start the process," Murray said.

Supervisors would not be able to vote on any proposed resolution at the July 6 meeting, but could take action on July 20.

"That would be the earliest we could vote on anything," Murray said.

Alves said the deadline for the November ballot is Aug. 6.

Law enforcement limbo

There is no solid proposal on the table to stabilize local law enforcement funding and police and deputies admit they are feeling the strain.

"We're all spread so thin, it's almost impossible to even schedule a meeting to get everyone together to discuss (solutions)," Willows police Sgt. Jason Dahl said.

It is not clear what a sales tax hike proposal would look like and such proposals have been a hard sell to local voters historically.

Sheriff's Deputy Brandy McDonald, who also serves as president of the Deputy Sheriff's Association, said something has got to change, hopefully sooner rather than later.

"We're all looking into any idea that would work," McDonald said, "but it's clear that both (the employee unions) and the public are going to have give a little more if we want to maintain the current level of services that the public deserves."

McDonald said she was not sure locals would support a tax hike, but said anything that would increase the strength of the local departments would be more than welcome.

"Right now we're reacting more to crimes that have happened, instead of actively preventing them," she said. "I think everyone would like to see that change."

Contact Rob Parsons at 934—6800 or rparsons@tcnpress.com.