By Dana Wilson
Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Some Ohio sheriffs are dealing with tight budgets by scaling back random crime patrols designed to spot trouble before it begins.
Pared-down road forces are too busy handling day-to-day crimes and emergencies to routinely cruise through every community, the sheriffs say.
“We respond call to call,” said Morrow County Sheriff Steven R. Brenneman, whose seven road deputies cover 404 square miles. In 2005, he had 15 deputies.
“We don’t have enough people to just go out and patrol.”
Sheriffs hesitate to publicize that they are limiting road patrols because they don’t want to give lawbreakers an edge, but more routine patrols are being cut statewide as budgets shrink. Many sheriffs have laid off employees or ordered unpaid furloughs to save money.
That leaves fewer staff members for popular crime-prevention efforts, such as road patrols and community programs such as D.A.R.E., said Bob Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association.
Cutting those services frustrates sheriffs as much as the public, Cornwell said. “They expect a certain level of service, and we cannot perform that.”
But budget constraints also can force law-enforcement agencies to become more efficient, said Michael Scott, a former police officer and associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He directs the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, a nonprofit organization that supports using data and research to fight crime.
“That business of driving around looking for stuff, that is probably the least-productive thing that police can do,” Scott said. “You’re bound to run into something once in a while, but wouldn’t it be smarter to use your data to see where you need to be?”
He said it’s more sensible to identify the places where problems repeatedly pop up and concentrate efforts there.
“Actually, the fewer resources you have, the stronger the argument is for doing it this way, because it means that you can’t afford to just have your officers doing unproductive things,” Scott said.
Madison County Sheriff Jim Sabin is awaiting a final 2010 budget from the board of commissioners, but he hopes there will be enough funding to maintain his 11 deputies. Road patrols have “virtually been eliminated,” and deputies are limiting the time they spend handling minor crimes, Sabin said.
That means they won’t routinely cruise county roads, stopping to chat with residents mowing their lawns or walking their dogs.
Sabin worries about losing those connections. “It’s very hard to put a measure on deterrence,” he said. “A marked vehicle or a deputy in uniform may never know who they have passed or who may have seen them and that mere presence changed their mind.”
In Meigs County, some criminal investigations have languished because Sheriff Robert E. Beegle no longer employs detectives. He operates a jail and runs his office in Pomeroy along the Ohio River on a $600,000 budget.
“They always say, ‘Strike while the iron is hot,’ ” Beegle said. “We don’t really have the manpower, so when we have a case, they don’t get to follow up on it right away.”
Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen laid off six civilian employees earlier this year and is unsure whether he’ll be able to make it through the year without laying off deputies. To make up a $915,000 budget shortfall, Phalen plans to limit overtime and training and won’t be buying new equipment.
Violet Township trustees agreed to give Phalen $55,000 this year to help cover the cost of patrolling their growing community.
“We’re trying to make sure there’s coverage here, but we understand that in an emergency they might end up somewhere else,” said Bill Yaple, director of operations for Violet Township.
Copyright 2010 Columbus Dispatch