JUAB COUNTY, Utah — In an alarming social media post, Juab County Sheriff Douglas Anderson shared the dire future his department faces, as well as residents in the county, due to high turnover caused by the rising cost of living.
With the headline "Sheriff's Office Losing Deputies Due to Pay," Anderson detailed how the sheriff's office is straining to retain deputies, losing 26 over the last 10 years at a turnover rate of 92 percent. According to Anderson, the vast majority of deputies left to seek jobs with other law enforcement agencies.
Anderson supported his former deputies, saying those past and current are "some of the finest, most diligent, and hard-working law enforcement officers that he has ever had the pleasure to work with and it is never a question of loyalty."
During exit interviews with the sheriff, deputies who were leaving the department claimed they were doing so because, according to Anderson, "deputies experience struggle and in some cases experience complete inability to match the current and rising cost of living."
There are currently three vacancies within the sheriff's office, and Anderson said there are up to four deputies who are considering leaving or are being "actively" recruited by other agencies.
"With the current vacancies, and the potential for more, this could augment risk factors to the deputies and the citizens at large, by lengthening response time with calls pending, reducing proactive work force in day-to-day law enforcement services, and prioritizing call response demands over pro-action in community program and educational programs," Anderson explained.
Alongside the lack of funds to pay deputies a cost-of-living raise, the sheriff's office said their workload has increased by 285 percent over the last 10 years, from 2,480 responses in 2015 to an estimated 9,264 by the end of this year.
"In order to meet financial constraints and cost of living growth, deputies are experiencing a personal imposition of demands in the form of additional overtime and part time employment opportunities to make ends meet," the post read.
Anderson is pleading for "consideration" to receive more "competitive and consistent" salaries, which would be commensurate with the rigors and demands of current law enforcement officers in Juab County."
