TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Pinellas Sheriff Eliminates OT, Fugitive Unit

ADVERTISEMENT

By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2009

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is doing away with paid overtime and eliminating its fugitive unit as it tries to pare costs.

The "zero overtime" policy affects all sheriff's office employees, not just deputies, and is expected to save $6 million.

The fugitive unit, which tracks down people wanted on warrants, will be dissolved on Feb. 15. Duties normally handled by that unit will be passed on to patrol deputies.

The agency has been restructuring departments and operations for two years in an effort to cut the budget and operate more efficiently. Last year, the office laid off 161 employees, including 36 detention deputies and 25 patrol deputies.

Although the sheriff's office budget for the upcoming fiscal year is not finalized, the early version calls for a $264.5 million budget for 2009-10. The budget for the current fiscal year was $278 million.
Local governments and municipalities have been slashing budgets because of lower tax revenues and a stagnant economy.

"We didn't realize the economy was going to be as bad as it is," Pinellas Sheriff Jim Coats said. "We're just doing our part."

Other changes include:

Good Friday, Veterans Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day will no longer be observed as work holidays, for a total savings of more than $1 million.

More than 400 digital cameras, purchased through a $87,000 federal grant, will be given to patrol deputies. Deputies will use the cameras at crime scenes, eliminating the need to dispatch forensic personnel for "photo only" calls.

Personnel once assigned to the fugitive unit will return to patrol.

"We're making every effort to maintain our core services," Coats said.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office also is feeling the budget crunch. The agency reduced overtime hours for all employees and has frozen "all non-mission critical positions," sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said.

Coats said his agency has not hired any new deputies since 2007. The Pinellas sheriff's office currently has 1,700 people on the payroll and Coats said he is "making every effort" to avoid more layoffs.

"You'd like to think morale is good," Coats said. "But there's a lot of apprehension."

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT