Council and sheriff must work together

How many sheriff’s deputies does York County need to ensure public safety? Both the Sheriff’s Office and the County Council need to cooperate in finding a better way to figure that out.

Sheriff Bruce Bryant, we think, was justified in being miffed about the council’s decision to cut three full-time and three part-time deputy jobs from the budget while he was out of town on vacation. Bryant’s surrogate, Maj. Robbie Hudgins, was present at the June meeting when the decision was made, but he was not permitted to speak about why the deputies were needed.

An angry Bryant told council members Monday night, “I have never stood before this council in 20 years and asked for something that I did not need. I know what I’m doing. I’ve been in law enforcement for 45 years.”

Bryant said he needs 19 full-time deputies to provide security in local courtrooms but has only 12. He said his office has been taking deputies off road duty to staff courtrooms.

Bryant also asserts that he expects to pay more than 500 hours of overtime between now and October to provide deputies for court security. He suggested that money could be better used to help pay for adding the three more full-time deputies at a cost of $107,697, or just under $36,000 for each officer.

But we think Bryant is obligated to do more than merely cite his years of experience in law enforcement as justification for hiring more deputies. The council needs a detailed accounting of why officers are needed, where they will be deployed and the minimum number of deputies required to reach what can reasonably be described as full strength.

The council, however, also needs to give the sheriff the chance to make his case, not vote while he’s out of town on vacation to renege on an agreement reached when negotiating the 2016-17 spending plan in late June.

The crucial issue, of course, is whether the Sheriff’s Office has sufficient personnel to provide security, both in courtrooms and on the road. We hope the sheriff and council members can work together amicably to determine that and act in the public’s best interest.

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Council and sheriff must work together."