The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office announced on Friday that all daytime patrols would be cut in the county beginning November 20th, due to a major staffing shortage, leaving the County without a major law enforcement presence during the day.
Located North of Sacramento between Redding and Chico, with a population of 66,000, Tehama County has been on the bubble regarding their Sheriff’s Department for year. Relatively low pay, cutbacks, coupled with minimal recruitment efforts and a rise in crime, especially in the County’s largest city, Red Bluff, have sent up red flags the last several years. Additionally, several housing units within the jail were shut down, the Dispatch Center was temporarily shut down, as well as the loss of 20 members of the staff within the last year, all led to the drastic announcement on Friday by the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office.
“Beginning November 20, 2022, the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office will suspend day-time patrol services to its designated areas of responsibility within Tehama County,” said the Department in a statement on Friday. “This added reduction of services is necessary to manage a catastrophic staffing shortage throughout the agency.”
“Over the past several years, the Sheriff’s Office has had difficulties with recruitment and retention of employees, which has been directly linked to pay disparities. A drastic rise in attrition, coupled with the inability to present enticing recruitment efforts have resulted in an unprecedented staffing shortage.”
“Most recently, staffing shortages in the custody division have forced the Sheriff’s Office to reassign Deputies from the operations division to fill vacancies within the courts and jail facility. This unfortunate, but necessary restructuring has left the operations division with insufficient staff to sustain 24-hour patrol services.”
CHP to partially takeover daytime duties for emergencies
A follow-up post on Facebook laid the blame on the Tehama County Board of Supervisors, whom the Department says dragged their feet on the staffing and hiring issues within the Department.
“We have spoken the Board for several years and warned them that staffing levels are too low,” added the Sheriff’s Association. “Rather than take swift and decisive action, they have delayed and allowed too many good employees to leave.”
View Comments (3)
Are the county supervisors a bunch of woke leftist abolish the police types?
Of course!
No, quite the opposite... The county is extremely poor due to their main income being virtually tax free Farming and ranching. The county Board is made up of there friends, which has led to drastic tax cuts for said farmers and other garbage policy changes. Over the past decade this county has been a shit show to put it lightly. Crime has been steadly increasing, while the county budget being drained. Tehama is a failing county all thanks to lack of taxes and greed. Some of the roads in the county are worse than 3rd world.