Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez called the county council's budget approval a great relief.
In 2022, he’ll add two new patrol positions, a jail nurse and an evidence technician.
“You know, right now we've been operating with just a single evidence technician and a single jail nurse and obviously those individuals have to have vacation. They may get sick. Life events may occur and that leaves us obviously, when they're going on vacation, woefully understaffed. This will really protect us from a liability standpoint.”
Martinez said many law enforcement agencies in Utah have increased wages and are offering signing bonuses to attract qualified people who want to serve in law enforcement, and Summit County needs to be competitive.
The council has also expressed support for a longer-range goal to bring salaries up to national levels and has approved a pay plan that increases wages more quickly than has occurred in the past.
"So, deputies will reach their maximum salary within eight years or at the eight-year mark. But we got a wage adjustment to be competitive with other agencies, you know, really raising their wages. And we've got the ability to do a hiring bonus that we've never had before. So, council really took it to heart that the presentations that I went before them with--they've really stepped up to support local law enforcement, and you know, this is just the beginning. We've got a lot more to go. We've got a lot more positions to fill."
Martinez said it's challenging to find young people who want to go into a dangerous job like policing. That means recruiting new officers is challenging on a local, state, and national scope.
"I don't know if it's innate, inbred, it's what it is in them that they want to serve. They want to wear the gun and badge and go into a job that's potentially dangerous and has so much scrutiny surrounding it."
The holiday season is a hectic one for Sheriff’s deputies who stay busy with thefts, scams, and DUI's. He offered advice about drinking and driving to those who may not know that Utah has the country’s strictest limit on that – drivers are legally under the influence of alcohol if they have a blood alcohol content of .05 percent.
“For every listener who doesn’t know that. For maybe those listeners who are listening from out of town, do not drink and drive. Get a friend, get an Uber, get a Lyft, get a taxi, use Mountain Valley Transportation. I'm not advocating that you don't go out and have fun. You are an adult, but do not get behind the wheel because if you do get behind the wheel, we are out there looking for you."
Also, in the category of things to beware of during the holidays, scams are circulating with solicitations from people claiming they are law enforcement and scaring people into sending money with various ruses. Martinez reminded people that the Sheriff's office will never call to demand money, and people should alert his office if they receive those calls.
