Laehn explains ‘benchmarks’ in 28E agreement
The Jefferson city council followed suit with the Greene County supervisors, approving the necessary 28E agreement between the two entities to assure adequate law enforcement coverage for the city of Jefferson.
The one-year agreement is intended to give the Jefferson police department time to rebuild from a critical shortage of personnel. The agreement is in effect Oct. 1, 2020, through Sept. 30, 2021.
County attorney Thomas Laehn authored the agreement and presented it to the supervisors Monday and to the city council Tuesday.
The agreement sets $1,000 per shift for sheriff’s deputies to cover up to 15 shifts per month. Those shifts will be determined jointly by police chief Mark Clouse and sheriff Jack Williams. There may be fewer than 15 shifts needed some months.
The sheriff’s office will also assist with some administrative or clerical tasks for the JPD. Chief Clouse has had no captain since Heath Enns joined the sheriff’s office last month. Current sergeant Shane Jones is leaving the department at the end of the month. The city will pay $1,750 per month for a half-time administrative employee of the sheriff’s office.
City council members asked no questions about the employment benchmarks set by the county in the agreement. Per the agreement, the county and the sheriff have the right to terminate the agreement at any time if the city doesn’t complete employment interviews for at least two potential JPD officers by Oct. 30. The city must also extend conditional job offers to at least two officers by Nov. 13, and the city must extend formal job officer to at least two new JPD officers by Dec. 8, 2020.
Laehn explained it was the county that insisted on including benchmarks. “Our hope, everybody’s hope, is that the police department rebuilds and succeeds. The county does not want to take on an indefinite obligation, nor do we want to supplant the Jefferson police department,” he said. “This is going to put an enormous strain on both the PD and the SO, but we want to work together and get through this together and succeed.”
He said the county wanted the benchmarks to know the Jefferson police department is being rebuilt.
“The understanding of the county was that the citizens of Jefferson are citizens of Greene County as well, and if it gets to the point that the PD isn’t going to survive, the county is going to have an obligation to step in and make sure the citizens of Jefferson have law enforcement services,” Laehn continued. “The county wanted benchmarks, and if they aren’t met, the county wanted the right to terminate the agreement, at which point, I believe, the sheriff’s office plan would be to start hiring deputies and start covering Jefferson generally. We don’t want that to happen, but the county wanted that assurance.”
Terminating the agreement if the benchmarks aren’t met is not automatic, but the sheriff and the county could take that route.
Chief Clouse said nothing during the presentation, nor did city attorney Bob Schwarzkopf.
Council member Darren Jackson asked questions about scheduling. Clouse said he is changing the schedule for patrol officers in a way that will allow one of them to take additional shifts as overtime. Officer Marc Wolterman, who was hired early in the summer, is at the Law Enforcement Academy now and will return in four weeks.
Clouse also reminded the council that when he hires new officers, it’s a minimum of three months before they’re in a vehicle on their own working a duty shift.
“Obviously this is here to be used. I’m not going to abuse it,” he said about being able to use sheriff’s deputies for JPD shifts. “It’s a crutch to help us get through this.” He said there were too many variables to be able to give a number of shifts deputies will be used.
About the administrative portion of the agreement, Clouse said once the PD is fully staffed, he’ll look at the command staff and “try to build from within, to do what we need to fill that sergeant and that captain position.” Those command personnel and Clouse handle administrative duties.
The vote to approve the 28E agreement with the county was unanimous.
Near the end of the meeting during the Reports agenda item, Clouse explained that after a position is posted, he sends applications to those who respond to the posting with a resume. He said the return rate of the applications is poor.
He said he’s now gathering background information on two potential candidates and hopes to interview candidates in early October.
The Jefferson city council at its Sept. 8 meeting directed city staff to begin negotiating a new contract with the AFSCME, the union that represents all non-salaried fulltime city employees, soon as possible. The current contract expires June 30, 2021. It is the council’s hope that a new contract with more competitive wages for police officers can go into effect sooner than June, and that higher wages will alleviate some of the current staffing issued in the JPD.
No report was given at the Sept. 22 meeting of what steps have been taken to start the process.
