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Deputies scarce in Jo County Budget cuts gut patrols By David Preszler The long arm of the law has gotten a whole lot shorter in Josephine County. From midnight until 8 a.m. Sunday morning, a single Oregon State Police trooper was covering the entire county, except for Grants Pass. That�s an area of more than 1,600 square miles with more than 52,000 residents. The lone trooper was a stark symbol of a law enforcement crisis. Budget cuts that took effect last week gutted the Josephine County Sheriff�s Department, leaving just 11 patrol deputies. Sheriff�s deputies have stopped patrolling between midnight and 8 a.m., forced by the cuts to focus strictly on the busier daytime and swing shifts. The Grants Pass police force, 23 patrol officers strong, wasn�t cut. But its duty is to the city�s residents so officers can�t provide backup outside the city unless someone�s in "dire need of help," says police chief Ron Schwartz. That leaves the OSP � which has only a half dozen troopers assigned to Josephine County � as the lone agency patrolling the unincorporated area during the wee hours. About half the week, two troopers cover the late shift; otherwise, there�s only one. And that�s already made for difficult choices, according to OSP Lt. Terry Simons. Take the one trooper working Sunday morning. He was at the scene of an injury auto accident when a domestic dispute call came in. Since domestic situations are emotionally charged and unpredictable, a single officer doesn�t handle them without backup. The trooper called for assistance and another trooper headed in his direction � from Medford, where he was working another auto accident. The lone trooper had to decide whether to go in alone, risking his safety, or wait for backup to arrive. "You have to make a decision," says Simons, the OSP�s district commander. "There�s a lot of liability. It�s a lose-lose. There are calls that we won�t be able to respond to." County sheriff�s departments and the state police have grown more accustomed to such choices in recent years as the number of deputies and troopers has dwindled. But resources are now stretched particularly thin in Josephine County, where a county levy failed in May and $1.96 million was chopped from the sheriff�s department budget. The sheriff�s office eliminated 41 positions, including 17 patrol officers, three patrol corporals and four patrol sergeants. That leaves 11 patrol officers, a lieutenant and Sheriff Dave Daniel himself to cover the county. On June 30, sheriff�s substations in Cave Junction and Murphy will close. The stations in Merlin and Wolf Creek would close as well, were it not for donations made to fund them until September. Residents can expect delays of hours or even days on property crimes such as burglaries, thefts and vandalism in which people aren�t directly threatened. "We�re going to do the best we can," says sheriff�s Lt. Brian Anderson. "We stack the calls as they come in. You get to them when you get to them." Anderson expects crime to rise in light of the cuts, as criminals get word of the shortage. "If you are going to commit a crime, are you going to do it where there are more police or less police?" he asks. The cutbacks have put added pressure on the OSP and Grants Pass Police Department. While the OSP is carrying the brunt of the extra patrol work, Grants Pass officers are facing tough choices about when to go beyond the city to assist troopers and deputies. And the budget cuts extended to the district attorney�s office, undermining its ability to prosecute offenders. "There are going to be some cases they aren�t going to prosecute," Schwartz says he�s been told. The effects may be felt in Jackson County as well. Simons says OSP troopers stationed out of Central Point are going to be needed for backup in Josephine County more often, drawing them out of Jackson County. And Jackson County Sheriff Bob Kennedy says joint investigations between his deputies and Josephine County deputies will be more difficult. That�s a big blow since criminals often operate in both counties. Law enforcement officials hope the crisis is temporary. An emergency funding levy for law enforcement will be put to voters in September. While he expects the delays and reduced service to be frustrating to residents, Anderson says the failed levy leaves the department with little choice. "The people have said this is the level of service they want." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA