MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — Staffing shortages in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office are hitting the agency hard, and that's a cause for concern for Sheriff Paul Penzone.
"We don't have enough staff anywhere in this organization for me to feel good about it," Sheriff Paul Penzone said.
The shortage impacts the entire agency, including deputies, dispatch, and jail personnel. Penzone said it makes it tough for everyone.
"As a sheriff am I concerned? Absolutely," he said. "My number one responsibility is to ensure this organization can function in a safe manner. That my employees come to work and know they have the resources and the support and staffing necessary to go home at the end of the day safe."
While the personnel shortage has been going on for some time, the biggest culprit has been the pandemic, according to Penzone.
"We were slotted for about 2,200 detention officer positions; we had 30 vacancies before COVID, now we have north of 400," he said. "On the sworn side, our deputies the number is around 700 would be full-staffing. I think we're about 80 deputies short. Percentage-wise it's not substantial unless you're that deputy going to a call and you don't have a backup because we're short that day, then suddenly one body is a big deficit."
Employees are strapped thin in order to meet the needs of the agency.
"I'm highly concerned because we have asked our employees to work well beyond that 40 to 50-hour work limit every week in order to meet the needs," Penzone said."It's getting to the point where I'm having to ask too much of them, but what's the alternative?"
"We hear consistently that it's a very difficult work environment and that's how it is everywhere," Joe Clure, Executive Director of the Arizona Police Association said. "Particularly in jails, the correction facility can't function if it doesn't have adequate staff. That creates a multitude of issues with the safety and operability of the facility. That is dangerous frankly for the inmates and corrections officers."
Clure also said the agency being understaffed can create a lot of problems for everyone. So when it comes to finding a solution, one must look at the cause.
"Quite honestly the last couple of years, the demonization and villainizing of police makes it an unattractive job and not a lot of people are willing to jump into that environment," he said. "That has to turn around at some point where police officers feel appreciated again."
A lot of concerns exist in the department while navigating the staffing shortages but the main one that exists for Penzone is safety for the public.
"I want to make sure our children go to school every day and they have the deputies there to keep them safe. I want to make sure our roadways when people drive dangerously and aggressively there'll be a deputy who will be there to stop them," he said. "I want to know when someone gets booked in jail, I have more than enough detention officers so they can keep the environment safe and their partner safe. So for me, what would I like to be at? I would like to see us north of 2,400 detention officers and north of 800 deputies."
As the department works on gaining interest, Penzone said they'll continue to do their best, under the circumstances given.
"We will continue to show up, we will continue to get it done," he said.
The sheriff's office said they're doing everything possible to attract prospective employees: that includes a signing bonus, increase in pay and tuition reimbursement for those who want to work and go back to school.
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