Sheriff Atkins only has himself to blame for the awful cuts he is making to law enforcement services (“Sheriff announces cutback in call response,” The Columbian, March 15).
When Atkins took office in 2014, dozens of reserve deputies worked hand-in-hand with full-time deputies to protect our county. Reserves are amazing, unpaid volunteers who meet the same state standards for selection and training as regular deputies.
Through neglect and mismanagement, the sheriff let the reserve program waste away. Last summer, he finally fired the remaining force of 14 reserves. And now he complains of the staffing shortage he caused.
Reserve deputies have served our county for 75 years. They are especially valuable in quality-of-life roles, like spending hundreds of hours every year protecting our children in school zones. And they are skilled crime fighters as well. On my final patrol as a reserve deputy last May, my partner and I stopped a stolen truck, and arrested the driver with a backpack full of drugs and burglary tools.
I urge the Clark County councilors to call for the sheriff’s office to bring back our incredibly cost-effective and invaluable reserve deputies as they work to solve the critical staffing shortage of regular deputies.
