Local law enforcement faces challenges in latest hiring round

BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) - Local law enforcement is currently searching for more people who would be willing to join them in their mission to protect and serve. The Bonneville County Sheriff's Office is currently searching for applicants along with many other local agencies.

Sergeant Bryan Lovell, the public information officer for the Bonneville County Sheriff's office, says the main reason they need more deputies is because of the rapid growth in the area.

"Our calls for service and the things that we do kind of grow with that. And so we try to, keep our staffing up with that and, stay current there and also expand our staffing. We've got, some expansion in our jail facility that's coming up. And so we'll have some more needs there and more positions that we'll need to fill. Aside from the staffing that we're working to fill right now," Lovell said.

Despite some strong support of law enforcement from the community, the agency is still facing challenges as they search for their new candidates.

"For a number of years, we've seen, you know, less and less applications for our different positions here in the sheriff's office. And there's a lot of different factors in that. Nationally, there's some narrative out there that doesn't make this type of work appealing. However, the environment, the community we have and the large support, the amount of great the large amount of support we have in this community, I think is a factor that attracts people here more so than other areas," Sergeant Lovell said.

Sergeant Lovell adds the support they receive from the community is what has led them to have success bringing in deputies from all over the country, allowing fresh ideas in policing to help improve the office.

With so many open positions that the agency is facing Sergeant Lovell adds that at times it can maybe spread their resources a little to thin for comfort.

"With our current staff kind of comes and goes. Some sometimes people are sick or at training and on vacation and things like that. And then you have days like today where, it really stretches everyone thin with resources," he said. "But, overall, we managed to keep up pretty well. We do get spread thin pretty at various times. But, there's always a deputy that comes to emergencies or always an officer. We help each other out with our neighboring agencies. And so we manage pretty well. We have staffing requirements in the jail facility and also our on the patrol side. And if that, means we bring people in on overtime, we do that and and we're managing to keep up very well in that respect."

He does say while they are currently in the process, it does take time to train the new deputy and get them up to speed.

Sergeant Lovell says its important to remember that not everything in Law enforcement has to do with the patrol aspect that we see.

"Some of those behind the scene things that people don't necessarily see, for example, is a lot of the things that our deputies in the jail do. They're, responsible for people that are in our facility awaiting the outcome of whatever issue they have," he said. "And, there's a lot of opportunities and things and there are a lot of ways that our deputies help those inmates get on a good course on a better path that they're on, help facilitate getting some of the resources that help them get on their feet or help them, stay in a productive way that people don't necessarily see or realize."

He says anyone interested in the field can reach out to the Bonneville County Sheriff's office at 208-529-1200 or apply on the sheriff's website here. Sergeant Lovell also says interested parties may be able to shadow a deputy, go on a ride a long and meet the team of deputies.