From sheriff’s deputies to desk clerks to 911 dispatchers, many members of the nation’s law enforcement ranks serve their country on two fronts: on the home front in their respective counties, and on the national front as members of the National Guard and Reserve.
When the Pentagon recently called-up 144,000 out of 1.2 million National Guard and Reserve troops, the deployment put an even greater strain on already depleted law enforcement staffs in counties throughout the country.
In Tennessee, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department already has 12 people on deployment and even more could go in the next round of call-ups. There are 200 deputies in a department that covers about 600 square miles.
“We’re proud of these guys … and whatever it takes, it’s what we’re gonna to do to make sure our community’s safe and these guys are doing what they need to do to keep our country safe,” said a spokesman for the department.
Regardless of size, counties throughout the country have been affected by call-ups. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which serves the largest county in landmass in the continental United States, has lost its share of officers.
“We do have a couple of [full-time] sheriff’s deputies overseas right now. We have a mailbox to keep us up-to-date with them,” said Corporal Bill Fertig, reserve coordinator, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. “Many others may go [if there’s a war in Iraq]. And with the current budget cuts across the state, we’re going to be up against the wall. Let’s hope our guys don’t get called up.”
And this new round of call-ups comes on the heels of thousands of reservists being deployed shortly after September 11. A recent survey by the Justice Department found that 48 percent of law-enforcement agencies lost staff to call-ups since the terrorist attacks almost 18 months ago.
“We had as many as 21 go after September 11,” explained Maj. Steve Sellers with the Fairfax County, Va. Sheriff’s Department. “Right now we’ve had three people called-up, with a few more that have received notification they will be called soon.”
Sellers said the difficult thing for his department is knowing exactly how many people on staff, either uniformed or civilian, are actually in the reserves. The department is in the process of checking with payroll to determine how many people are on active duty and then will attempt to figure out how many are on inactive duty, because even those reservists could get called-up in a time of war.
Because the law requires the job to still be there for reservists when they return, many counties are using overtime to fill the gaps and others are calling upon their reserve deputies to pick up some of the slack. But even with reserve deputies and overtime, some departments acknowledge that there will be an effect on service.
“It makes us short, which makes our call time a little longer,” said Lieutenant Jack Broadus with the Cumberland County, N.C. Sheriff’s Department. “The other officers that are here have to work harder to answer other calls.”
In Carter County, Tenn., the sheriff department’s second in command is already on active duty with his reserve unit and several other deputies are waiting to get word.
“I don’t know right now if I’m going to lose all four, but there’s a good chance I could,” said Sheriff John Henson. “I hope it is resolved peacefully, but honestly, we don’t expect that to happen.”
