By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Law enforcement agencies across the country are seeing a continuing trend of staff shortages, and that includes St. Joseph and Buchanan County.
Buchanan County presiding commissioner Lee Sawyer says the sheriff's department is short about 20 staff members - from law enforcement officers to corrections employees and beyond.
"We do have open positions," Sawyer said. "The sheriff's department is working to get those filled, but in some areas like drug strike force, they've been kind of short of help anyway."
St. Joseph Police chief Chris Connally tells KFEQ's The Hotline that their department is also trying to fill 20 or so positions. He points to national rhetoric around policing, including the "Defund the Police" movement that has gained traction since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year.
"It's had a significant impact on the relationship between people and the police," Connally said. "Now, particularly with so many people leaving policing, and many are leaving just because they see what's going on."
Connally says the St. Joseph Police Department is certainly not alone when it comes to staff shortages.
"I was at a police chief's meeting recently and out of 150 police chiefs, I would say all but about three raised their hands when asked about hiring and retention challenges," he said.
In the most recent St. Joseph community survey released in April, safety and security was the top concern among respondents, with 55 percent of respondents naming safety and security as the most important issue facing St. Joseph and Buchanan County.
This comes as St. Joseph has seen a recent uptick in drug-related crimes and overdoses. As of late-March, St. Joseph had seen 110 drug overdoses since the start of 2021 - most of these linked to Fentanyl.
Puett says personnel shortages amongst local law enforcement make it more difficult to respond to these concerns and crimes.
"Our community is concerned with addiction and the drug problems in the community," he said. "That's very obvious. We have drug investigators that are out constantly trying to address these things and they have limited resources."
Sawyer said 83 percent of St. Joseph area residents feel there is a problem with drug addiction, according to the community survey.
"Fifteen percent said they weren't sure and only two percent said there's not a problem," Sawyer said. "So, that's pretty remarkable really."
Chief Connally cited a different survey - one that asked people of various age groups whether or not they believe that law enforcement is an honorable profession.
"Ages 18-24 or 25, only 15 percent of those thought it was an honorable profession" Connally said.
Public perception of policing, coupled with salary concerns, Puett says, are the main reasons why Buchanan County and so many others nationally have trouble recruiting and retaining officers.
"The money is terrible and we don't get paid enough when, and they say, when people hate us," Puett said. "When they hear this national rhetoric of, 'no one wants police. They're bad. They're this, they're that.'"
Puett says the sheriff's office is looking at ways to boost pay and incentives for prospective recruits in order to try and fill some of their vacancies.
He also wants to reassure anyone who's considering a career in law enforcement locally that the St. Joseph and Buchanan County communities have overwhelmingly expressed their support for policing.
In other words, Puett says officers in the local area, for the most part, are not met with "defund the police" rhetoric often seen through social media and mainstream media sources.
"I think our community is unique in a lot of good ways, " Puett said. "I think people around here support law enforcement. I do believe we have a good community and folks who are supporting us. So, people who are interested in getting into law enforcement, I encourage them to contact us, and we'll get them started and get them on their way."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.