Lack of deputies is danger to citizens

To The Eagle:

As you may know our only public safety agency is the Wahkiakum County Sheriff’s office which is three deputies short. Our sheriff has attempted for several months to recruit new deputie who are certified via what is called a lateral hire. This could put a new hire on the road in a very short period of time versus the nine months it takes to train a totally new deputy.

However, the sheriff is so far unable to hire either a lateral or a rookie because Wahkiakum County is the lowest paid police agency in the state. Therefore, we as citizens have no school service officer, no 24/7 patrol of our neighborhoods, no backup for responding deputies and not enough deputies to follow up on reported crimes, allowing criminals to go uncharged.

We must get our county commissioners to place on the ballot a small tax increase on homes and property specific to public safety. Failure to do so puts us all and our deputies in potential danger.

Mike Mouliot

Cathlamet