A Northern California sheriff’s office is canceling daytime patrols across the county due to a “catastrophic” staff shortage.
The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office said this week it would suspend all daytime patrols from Nov. 20 because it doesn’t have enough staff to police around the clock.
Instead, the sheriff’s office will patrol the county north of Sacramento near the Oregon border at night, and the California Highway Patrol will respond to emergencies during the day.
“Recently, staff shortages in the custody department have forced the sheriff to reassign deputies from the operations department to fill vacancies within the courts and prison facilities,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a statement. “This unfortunate but necessary restructuring has left the Operations department understaffed to support 24-hour patrol services.”
Tehama County covers nearly 3,000 square miles and has an estimated population of more than 65,000, according to the US Census Bureau.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the Tehama County Deputy Sheriff’s Association said it has been warning the county council for years to address staff shortages within the department, to no avail.
“Instead of acting quickly and decisively, they have been delayed and have let too many good employees leave,” the union wrote. “Several housing units within the prison have been closed, the Dispatch Center has been temporarily shut down and now Dayshift Patrol will be shut down.”
Lieutenant Rob Bakken of the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office told KRCR the department has lost about 20 employees in the past year and the number of people applying to join the department is low.
“Obviously, reaction times are affected,” Bakken said. “And we made the decisions to minimize the dangers to public safety as much as possible. But the fact that there are no deputies on the street is obviously not beneficial for the public.”
