Saturday, May 01, 1999
Deerfield requests three more deputies
Sheriff says more money needed
BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — Deerfield Township leaders want the Warren County Sheriff's Office to add three deputies to its ranks to help patrol their busy corner of the county.
But Sheriff Tom Ariss said Friday that three deputies is more than he can afford. He told township leaders they would have to ask commissioners for the money to cover additional law enforcement services.
“I don't have $213,000,” Sheriff Ariss said. “I told them the commissioners would have to allow us five more people, and that's what the trustees are asking for.”
At a meeting with commissioners and township leaders on Thursday, Sheriff Ariss said Deerfield's request for an additional deputy per shift would actually cost him five people to cover for days off, vacations and the like. He said salary and benefits for the five additional deputies would cost the sheriff's office the $213,000 a year.
Township officials say that is a small price to pay to protect taxpayers.
“We feel that we are not getting the support from the county that we should be,” Township Administrator Hazel Dotson said. “We are not seeing any return on the tax dollars we are sending to the
county. The Warren County Sheriff's Office has hardly any presence in Deerfield Township at all.”
Deerfield pays $900,000 a year for 16 deputies under a contract with the sheriff's office. The cost is paid for by a police tax levy that township residents have been renewing since the late 1970s. The levy generates about $1.2 million a year.
The contracted deputies serve Deerfield Township exclusively but are not township employees. The township pays for their uniforms, vehicles and base of operations; the sheriff's office provides $247,000 in management, clerical services and training.
Mrs. Dotson said Deerfield began contracting for its own police force after it became increasingly difficult to get police assistance from the county.
“Sometimes it would be three or four days after you placed a call before a deputy would actually show up at your door,” Mrs. Dotson said. “Because we were in such a remote part of the county, it literally had to be an emergency to get (officers) down here.”
Deerfield's unprecedented growth in recent years has put an increased demand on police. In 1998, the sheriff's office responded to 6,761 reported offenses in the township, according to county records.
Sheriff Ariss doesn't dispute that Deerfield needs help — law enforcement activity there makes up 30 percent of all of the sheriff's calls for service.
“It's a busy place. But if I had to put somebody down there to cover every shift, I can't do that. I would be robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Sheriff Ariss said.
The sheriff's office covers 10 other townships with 24 deputies. Sheriff Ariss said if commissioners won't cushion his budget to pay five more deputies for Deerfield, then he cannot take them out of existing ranks.
Commissioners said providing the additional deputies for Deerfield Township could set a bad precedent. They said if they provide Deerfield with more deputies, then they might have to do the same thing for every other entity in Warren County — a move that could potentially cost the county millions of dollars a year.
“Then they should spend that much,” Township Clerk Ben Dotson said. “The commissioners and the sheriff have an obligation to protect the entire county.”
Mr. Dotson said if commissioners are concerned about funding the additional deputies, they could use the $600,000 in motel taxes the county collects from the township to cover the cost.
Township and county leaders have tentatively scheduled a meeting later this month to review the matter. No date has been set.
Sheila McLaughlin contributed to this report.
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