MARQUETTE — The Marquette County Board of Commissioners held their biweekly meeting on Tuesday evening, where Lieutenant Alex Gill from the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office Road Patrol Division highlighted some of the troubles their department is facing relating to staffing issues.

Lt. Gill referred to how the board had previously expressed interest in having 24/7 road patrol operations, and that road patrol currently ends at 2 a.m. due to staffing problems. He and Undersheriff Lowell Larson have investigated what would be needed in order to have full-time road patrol operations under the MCSO, and that includes the hiring of four additional deputies, as well as a minimum of two additional patrol cars and their necessary equipment to ensure that their fleet is operational.

“It appears that in order to go to a full 24 hour operation seven days a week and still be able to maintain contracts, court duties, and obligations that are solely held by the sheriff’s offices, we’re looking at an addition of four personnel, four additional deputies,” explained Lt. Gill. “With that, you’re not just considering personnel wages and benefits, but there’s also some initial overhead costs that would also have to be incurred to outfit those deputies, (including) the addition of (minimally) two patrol cars in order to be able to make sure that the fleet is operational. With those two patrol cars, there’s a lot of additional equipment that has to go into a police car, (and) as with everything nowadays, everything keeps getting more and more expensive.”

When it comes to who would pay for these staffing and resource upgrades, Lt. Gill explained that one solution he considering includes applying for federal Community-Oriented Policing Services grants through the Department of Justice, noting that the county had previously utilized COPS grants awarded to them approximately 20 years ago.

“The COPS grant is a federal grant that will pay (a) maximum (of) $125,000 per deputy over a period of three years. It requires a matching contribution by the county at a minimum of 25%. However, with that $125,000 over three years, the 25% contribution is likely to be more on the county, more than 25%,” Lt. Gill said. “In total, running the numbers, if we were able to proceed with the COPS grant, pursue it and use the maximum amount, we’re looking at about approximately 40% assistance in the wage of those officers.” Lt. Gill also clarified that the remaining 60% of officer wages would have to come from the county, and the maximum that the grant would award to the four deputies to assist in their wages would be $500,000. After the grant runs out after three years, the county would have to pick up 100% of the costs. There is also a requirement with the grant that the county maintains the employment of the deputies hired under the grant for a minimum of 12 months.

“We are looking at other cost saving measures within the sheriff’s office, and that would be, with the increased personnel, maybe relieving some of the duties currently held by the jail because of our current staffing levels, such as jail transports, transporting inmates to other facilities, medical appointments, stuff like that,” shared Lt. Gill. “We would look to start absorbing some of those positions from the jail and so in (a) sense, taking currently funded positions that are already within the budget and diverting them over towards the road patrol.”

Chairman Joe Derocha shared that the undersheriff has already released two positions within the budget, and there are plans to ramp two back, so theoretically, only two additional deputies would need to be hired under the COPS grant.

“We have some significant obligations we have to certainly look at. We couldn’t be more pleased having Kami (Fassbender) at the helm here to navigate those finances, but I’m certainly supportive of getting federal money,” Derocha said.

Undersheriff Larson explained how his and Lt. Gill’s evaluations of staffing needs led him to realize that the sheriff’s office can reduce two of their jail staffing positions and reassign them. He anticipates that once the sheriff’s office has 24/7 road patrol, that he will be able to reduce two additional positions. In total, four positions from the jail would be reassigned to road patrol, which would only require the hiring of two additional deputies.

“They are staffing additional people in the evening to cover for that because road patrol’s not there,” Larson said in regards to additional jail staffing in the evenings, in case an inmate transport is needed. “Once we have road patrol there that can take that inmate at night, we won’t have that staff, that jail personnel.”

The board voted to approve and support the grant applications moving forward. Additionally, Chairman Derocha voiced the board’s support for the Community Action Alger-Marquette Meals on Wheels program, saying that the service will continue.

The board of commissioners will also hold a special meeting to conduct interviews with Duane Duray, Jared Hautamaki, and Michael Larson – the candidates for the County Administrator position – at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. respectively on July 15. The interviews are open to the public and will take place in Room 41 in the Courthouse, located at 234 West Baraga Avenue.

The next regular board of commissioners meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on August 5 in Room 231 of the Courthouse Annex.

The full board meeting and supplemental documents can be viewed online at co.marquette.mi.us/county_government/board_of_commissioners/current_meetings.php.

More information about the Department of Justice’s COPS grants can be found at cops.usdoj.gov/grants.

Abby LaForest can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 548. Her email address is alaforest@miningjournal.net.