Sheriff sees effects of struggling economy; domestic calls, thefts top cases in 2009

By BRANDY CHANDLER

The Highland County Press

   With an unemployment rate that exceeds 19 percent, the people of

Highland County are facing trying times. Area individuals and families are

coping with massive job loss, area government is functioning on diminished

dollars, and everyone is trying to do more with less.

   According to Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward, his office is no

exception. A review of the department’s 2009 year to date statistics shows

the crime that most often resulted in criminal arrest was domestic violence,

with 118 incidents. The second highest was theft, with 57 incidents,

followed by assault at 50 incidents.

   “Those types of calls go along with how the economy plays out in times

like we’ve had in the last couple of years,” Ward told The Highland County

Press. “When money is tight and with the layoffs that have occurred, the

instances of drug and alcohol abuse obviously go up – which goes back into

family issues in the home which sometimes involve law enforcement, and are

high for a county of our size. But

it’s, quite honestly, not surprising considering the economic situation we

are in.”

   Townships with the most arrests in general were Paint Township with 337,

Liberty Township with 255 and Brushcreek Township with 105. Salem Township

had the fewest arrests with nine.

   “For us as a sheriff’s office, it is very difficult in domestic violence

situations. Unfortunately, we are kind of a reactive agency.

We investigate them and take force when necessary,” Ward said. “Other

agencies – the mental health centers, the domestic violence task force –

those agencies deal with prevention. And we try to be a preventative,

proactive agency. I think other things that we do play into the prevention.”

   Ward said that preventing drug and alcohol abuse is the way his

department can be most proactive in trying to bring down the domestic

violence numbers.

   “The drugs and alcohol cases play into the end result of domestic

violence,” he said.

   Certain drug crimes, though, are also up.

   “The drug arrests in trafficking – in heroin, it’s four arrests,”

Ward said. “Four arrests might not sound like many, but in Highland County

four arrests in trafficking in heroin is significant. Go back several years,

it was very unusual to have even one heroin case annually. To have one, that

would have raised an eyebrow.”

   Due to budget cuts, the Highland County Sheriff’s Office has had to lay

off 14 people, Ward said. Since August 2008 the budget has been cut four

different times, totally an estimated $750,000. “They were significant cuts

in all four occasions,” Ward said. “As you can see from our call load, and

it’s just kind of that relative common sense, our call load in 2008 was

47,584. It went down a couple hundred calls in 2009 (to 47,313), but we’ve

got less people to do it with. Our response times undoubtedly went up

because of budget cuts.             “Maybe the time we have available to

spend on certain investigations has been limited. And I know – I feel,

anyway – that we are trying to do the best job that we can. But I know based

on our staffing levels and the continuation of calls coming in, we are not

doing as good a job as we did three to five years ago. But we are going to

continue to try to do the best job we can with the resources and the

finances made available to us by the board of commissioners.”

   Patrol mileage has gone down at the sheriff’s office as a way to

conserve time and fuel. In 2007 the office’s mileage was 479,697. In 2008 it

was 462,404 and in 2009 it was 312,877.

   “That’s a drop of 150,000 patrol miles,” Ward said. “You know, we’re

obviously a 24/7 operation, but we’ve had to cut back patrols. We don’t have

the manpower that we had back in 2008 to maintain all those miles.

   “But we burn about 40,000 gallons of fuel annually. Because of budget

cuts, that’s one of the line items that we are cutting,” Ward said.

   “The other thing that comes into play, it has been three years since we

have been able to purchase patrol cars.

   “I’ve got three vehicles with over 120,000 miles on them. We’ve got to

make the cars that we’ve got last longer. The only way to do that is to cut

patrol miles. Budget cuts are a ripple effect through my office.”

   Jail capacity has been capped at 60 inmates since staffing at the jail

has decreased, Ward said, though the jail can house 72.

   “We’re working with the prosecutor’s office, and the courts have been

amenable to help us keep who we believe are the most dangerous people in

jail,” Ward said.

   Sheriff sales, as part of the foreclosure process, are also

increasing.

   In 2009, there were 323 sheriff sales according to the 2009

year to date statistics. In 2008, there were 286; in 2007, 297; in 2006,

289; in 2005, 250; and in 2004, 223.

   There were 343 new sheriff sales in 2009, with 302 in 2008; 2007, 281;

2006, 366; 2005, 305; 2004, 335.

   In 2009, 138 sales were withdrawn by the courts prior to the sale date,

168 were purchased by the plaintiffs, for a total of $8,717,535.

   Ten cases were purchased by third-party buyers for a total of

$460,200; and seven cases were “no-bidders” which resulted in no sale.

   “In foreclosure action, it is the sheriff’s responsibility to take

action in the sale of property,” Ward said. “We’ve seen a steady rise in

those numbers. I hate to predict an increase but (taking into account

layoffs and rising job loss) I can’t see a decrease. The best, I think, we

can hope for in this economy is for the numbers to hold steady.”

   Ward said the increase in foreclosures is stressful on members of the

community, and “it is stressful for me and the people in my office to do

that.”

   The situation has arisen four times in the past five years in which the

sheriff’s office has had to execute a sheriff’s sale on one of its own

employees, Ward said.

   “It’s a bad situation to sell one of our own deputy’s homes,” Ward said,

but those situations were handled in a professional manner.”

   With additional stress, coupled with the increase in workload, Ward said

that keeping morale high in his office can be difficult, but that is

something he feels is important.

   “We have a good staff that is dedicated to serving the community,” Ward

said. “

   Despite the cuts, Ward said he believes that the people who live in

Highland County “are no less safe than they were three years ago.”

   “Everyone should have a right to go home every night and feel safe. I

believe we live in a safe community,” Ward said.

   “That is partly due to us, partly to the citizens. We have good, good

quality citizens in Highland County, who go to work every day and don’t

commit criminal acts.

   “There is 5 to 7 percent of the population who do commit criminal acts,

typically against those other citizens.”

   Ward encouraged people to be proactive about their own safety, as “law

enforcement and government can’t prevent 100 percent of the crimes.

   “Citizens need to be vigilant, lock their houses, take the keys out of

their cars, invest in a security system,” he said.

   Ward also said area residents should consider arming themselves for

protection, noting that “with that right, comes a great responsibility to

safety.”

   In total, the HCSO has issued 573 concealed carry permits and issued 138

renewed permits. One permit has been suspended, no permits are

listed as revoked, and two permits have been denied.

   Ward said, “The safety and security of the citizens is a priority with

the commissioners, and that law enforcement offices are “the thin blue line

between the citizens and chaos. I don’t expect (the commissioners) to not

give me budget cuts, and they are now prioritizing some of the cuts. It was

across the board for a time, but safety should be paramount.

   “We do the best we can with the resources we have to be a sheriff’s

office this community can count on.”

With an unemployment rate that exceeds 19 percent, the people of Highland County are facing trying times. Area individuals and families are coping with massive job loss, area government is functioning on diminished dollars, and everyone is trying to do more with less.

   According to Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward, his office is no exception. A review of the department’s 2009 year to date statistics shows the crime that most often resulted in criminal arrest was domestic violence, with 118 incidents. The second highest was theft, with 57 incidents, followed by assault at 50 incidents.

   “Those types of calls go along with how the economy plays out in times like we’ve had in the last couple of years,” Ward told The Highland County Press. “When money is tight and with the layoffs that have occurred, the instances of drug and alcohol abuse obviously go up – which goes back into family issues in the home which sometimes involve law enforcement, and are high for a county of our size. But it’s, quite honestly, not surprising considering the economic situation we are in.”

   Townships with the most arrests in general were Paint Township with 337, Liberty Township with 255 and Brushcreek Township with 105. Salem Township had the fewest arrests with nine.

   “For us as a sheriff’s office, it is very difficult in domestic violence situations. Unfortunately, we are kind of a reactive agency. We investigate them and take force when necessary,” Ward said. “Other agencies – the mental health centers, the domestic violence task force – those agencies deal with prevention. And we try to be a preventative, proactive agency. I think other things that we do play into the prevention.”

   Ward said that preventing drug and alcohol abuse is the way his department can be most proactive in trying to bring down the domestic violence numbers.

   “The drugs and alcohol cases play into the end result of domestic violence,” he said.

   Certain drug crimes, though, are also up.

   “The drug arrests in trafficking – in heroin, it’s four arrests,” Ward said. “Four arrests might not sound like many, but in Highland County four arrests in trafficking in heroin is significant. Go back several years, it was very unusual to have even one heroin case annually. To have one, that would have raised an eyebrow.”

   Due to budget cuts, the Highland County Sheriff’s Office has had to lay off 14 people, Ward said. Since August 2008 the budget has been cut four different times, totally an estimated $750,000. “They were significant cuts in all four occasions,” Ward said. “As you can see from our call load, and it’s just kind of that relative common sense, our call load in 2008 was 47,584. It went down a couple hundred calls in 2009 (to 47,313), but we’ve got less people to do it with. Our response times undoubtedly went up because of budget cuts.            
“Maybe the time we have available to spend on certain investigations has been limited. And I know – I feel, anyway – that we are trying to do the best job that we can. But I know based on our staffing levels and the continuation of calls coming in, we are not doing as good a job as we did three to five years ago. But we are going to continue to try to do the best job we can with the resources and the finances made available to us by the board of commissioners.”

   Patrol mileage has gone down at the sheriff’s office as a way to conserve time and fuel. In 2007 the office’s mileage was 479,697. In 2008 it was 462,404 and in 2009 it was 312,877.

   “That’s a drop of 150,000 patrol miles,” Ward said. “You know, we’re obviously a 24/7 operation, but we’ve had to cut back patrols. We don’t have the manpower that we had back in 2008 to maintain all those miles.

   “But we burn about 40,000 gallons of fuel annually. Because of budget cuts, that’s one of the line items that we are cutting,” Ward said.

   “The other thing that comes into play, it has been three years since we have been able to purchase patrol cars.

   “I’ve got three vehicles with over 120,000 miles on them. We’ve got to make the cars that we’ve got last longer. The only way to do that is to cut patrol miles. Budget cuts are a ripple effect through my office.”

   Jail capacity has been capped at 60 inmates since staffing at the jail has decreased, Ward said, though the jail can house 72.

   “We’re working with the prosecutor’s office, and the courts have been amenable to help us keep who we believe are the most dangerous people in jail,” Ward said.

   Sheriff sales, as part of the foreclosure process, are also increasing.

   In 2009, there were 323 sheriff sales according to the 2009 year to date statistics. In 2008, there were 286; in 2007, 297; in 2006, 289; in 2005, 250; and in 2004, 223.

   There were 343 new sheriff sales in 2009, with 302 in 2008; 2007, 281; 2006, 366; 2005, 305; 2004, 335.

   In 2009, 138 sales were withdrawn by the courts prior to the sale date, 168 were purchased by the plaintiffs, for a total of $8,717,535.

   Ten cases were purchased by third-party buyers for a total of $460,200; and seven cases were “no-bidders” which resulted in no sale.

   “In foreclosure action, it is the sheriff’s responsibility to take action in the sale of property,” Ward said. “We’ve seen a steady rise in those numbers. I hate to predict an increase but (taking into account layoffs and rising job loss) I can’t see a decrease. The best, I think, we can hope for in this economy is for the numbers to hold steady.”

   Ward said the increase in foreclosures is stressful on members of the community, and “it is stressful for me and the people in my office to do that.”

   The situation has arisen four times in the past five years in which the sheriff’s office has had to execute a sheriff’s sale on one of its own employees, Ward said.

   “It’s a bad situation to sell one of our own deputy’s homes,” Ward said, but those situations were handled in a professional manner.”

   With additional stress, coupled with the increase in workload, Ward said that keeping morale high in his office can be difficult, but that is something he feels is important.

   “We have a good staff that is dedicated to serving the community,” Ward said. “

   Despite the cuts, Ward said he believes that the people who live in Highland County “are no less safe than they were three years ago.”

   “Everyone should have a right to go home every night and feel safe. I believe we live in a safe community,” Ward said.

   “That is partly due to us, partly to the citizens. We have good, good quality citizens in Highland County, who go to work every day and don’t commit criminal acts.

   “There is 5 to 7 percent of the population who do commit criminal acts, typically against those other citizens.”

   Ward encouraged people to be proactive about their own safety, as “law enforcement and government can’t prevent 100 percent of the crimes.

   “Citizens need to be vigilant, lock their houses, take the keys out of their cars, invest in a security system,” he said.

   Ward also said area residents should consider arming themselves for protection, noting that “with that right, comes a great responsibility to safety.”

   In total, the HCSO has issued 573 concealed carry permits and issued 138 renewed permits. One permit has been suspended, no permits are listed as revoked, and two permits have been denied.

   Ward said, “The safety and security of the citizens is a priority with the commissioners, and that law enforcement offices are “the thin blue line between the citizens and chaos. I don’t expect (the commissioners) to not give me budget cuts, and they are now prioritizing some of the cuts. It was across the board for a time, but safety should be paramount.

   “We do the best we can with the resources we have to be a sheriff’s office this community can count on.”