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Sheriff to continue
Modified Level Three Plan
Darke County Republican Mens Club…
Spencer also discussed funding, special response incidents and the two
911 operations
By Bob Robinson
“Well, this is one of my least favorite topics, but I know I’ll be
asked, so I’ll bring it up now.”
After a brief summary of how the Darke County Fair went from the
perspective of law enforcement – it went well – Darke County Sheriff
Toby Spencer delved into the issue that he said he thought was likely
on the minds of most with winter coming up.
Snow emergencies.
He told the Darke County Republican Mens Club members and guests
Saturday morning that after issues were raised about his use of Level
3, he started a Modified Level 3 plan toward end of the year before
last.
“A lot of people were confused,” he said, “and rightly so.”
He then said last year he continued it and it went much better, noting
that there were only a couple of incidents. One of them involved
interference with road and utilities crews.
“A total of eight hours of work clearing roads and getting power back
on for customers was lost because someone went out, got stuck and left
the vehicle blocking the road.”
He said the law makes him responsible for public safety and “I have to
take that seriously.”
Spencer said the last thing he wanted to do was to hurt business or
create a problem for local factories with production deadlines.
“But safety has to come first,” he continued. “What about the kids? Are
they in school? They need to get home safely… this is a big deal to me.”
He added that a major factor is when the snow hits, and how soon road
crews can clear the arteries.
Spencer said the Modified Level 3 is a workable plan and he will
continue it. If people can get out on a state highway, or get around in
the city or their village, he said, then that’s fine. It is often the
county and township roads that make travel during snow emergencies
difficult or dangerous.
Funding
Spencer told the group that the department is running into problems
that “cost money.”
The jail is 30 years old, he said. With the 24/7 use it gets, the wear
and tear is comparable to that of a 100-year-old building.
“Cell doors are vacuum controlled,” he said. “That’s 30-year-old
technology that nobody services any more.”
He added that he was fortunate that county maintenance people have been
creative in fixing the occasional problems, some of which involved
prisoners not being able to leave their cell for a period of time
because the door wouldn’t open. It is an issue that has to be resolved.
He also noted that some of his vehicles have over 200,000 miles on
them. Repairs are costly but they must deal with them.
He added that he has had to make no layoffs, but has lost people due to
attrition, and jail staff is below standards.
“We’re down nine employees, including good, dedicated young people who
moved to more secure assignments elsewhere.”
Spencer said he will be approaching the Commissioners soon to deal with
another problem: cruisers will be out of gas money in another month or
so.
“As much as I hate to do it, we try to get cruisers to just sit for a
half hour out of every hour to conserve gas.” He added, however, that
with 27,000 response calls by the end of August, that has been almost
impossible to achieve.
Special Response Incidents
Spencer told the group that the Sheriff’s Office responded to three
special incidents, including barricades and standoffs with hostages.
They take considerable man-hours to resolve.
He added that he often feels a 20-hour standoff can be resolved in 20
minutes if the law allowed it. It doesn’t. Deputies have to follow
procedures.
“Our Deputies do not get overtime,” he added. “They take the time off
later to keep the department from having to pay it.”
He said he had good, dedicated and loyal people who understand the
financial situation. He noted that they recently opted out of their
union’s authorized raises.
Two 911 Operations
When Spencer was asked about the two 911 operations in the county, he
responded that he was in discussions with the city.
“I’m not looking for more work,” he said. “We have two dispatchers that
are kept busy 24-7.”
He added that the county dispatches for 30 agencies… everything in the
county except Greenville Police and Fire.
Spencer said there is a space designated in the 911 Dispatch Room for
Greenville and it would take additional staff to handle those calls. He
added, however, that his office would not be dealing with any of the
administrative issues.
“The big savings would be in equipment,” he said.
Equipment upgrades will soon be required that will run about $250 to
$300 thousand. With two separate dispatch offices meeting the mandate,
that number would double.
Spencer said that many 911 calls that may be considered frivolous or an
abuse by some could be legitimate for others.
“We are governed in everything we do by civil legislation,” Spencer
said. “And sometimes that can hurt what we are able to do.”
Final question… “Are you running again?”
“Yes.”
The Darke County Republican Mens Club meets at 8 a.m. the third
Saturday of every month in the Brethren Retirement Community Employee
Cafeteria. Guests are welcome.
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