Oregon State Police are scaling back some of their off-highway patrols in Josephine County. Meanwhile, the sheriff鈥檚 office is increasing the patrol hours of its existing deputies.
鈥淚t really happened at a good time,鈥� Sheriff Dave Daniel says with regards to OSP pulling back some of its coverage in the Sheriff's jurisdiction. 鈥淲e're able to take a good step forward, as soon as we can. It鈥檚 our mission to do that. That鈥檚 our job. That shouldn't be placed upon OSP. They just did it when we couldn鈥檛. Well, now we can.鈥�
Starting in 2020, sheriff鈥檚 deputies will patrol the county for 20 hours a day, up from 12. Still, Daniel says, the increased hours could negatively impact overall coverage.
鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e spreading out our deputies a little more thin, there's going to be possibly a loss in response times or a reduction in response times during the day,鈥� he says.
Budget cuts in 2012 stripped the Josephine County Sheriff鈥檚 Office down to just two deputies. That鈥檚 when Oregon State Police began filling coverage gaps with off-highway patrols in an unconventional agreement with the county.
The sheriff鈥檚 department has done a lot of hiring since then. The entire department went from about 40 positions in 2012 to more than 100 this year.
Daniel says he was able to redirect funding from a 2017 tax levy intended for county jail improvements to hire more deputies. He has hired about a dozen deputies since then. Many of those new hires are just now completing their academy training and are able to do patrols.
Daniel says there鈥檚 still need for improvement.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not where we need to be, it鈥檚 not where we want to be, and it鈥檚 certainly not the level of service that I think the citizens of Josephine County deserve,鈥� Daniel says.
OSP officials say they鈥檙e refocusing their attention to their jurisdiction on highways in the county 鈥� particularly in catching drunk drivers along U.S. 199, one of the state鈥檚 deadliest highways.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This post has been updated to clarify that OSP is not pulling back its overall coverage in the county; it鈥檚 redirecting its troopers to its original jurisdiction on state highways, as opposed to the off-highway coverage it has been providing to the county since 2012. OSP Lt. Stephanie Bigman says the agency is increasing the number of troopers patrolling the highways in Josephine County.
