WCSO Gets New Deputies Despite Hiring Freeze

Despite a 6-month hiring freeze imposed by the county last month, Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman managed to get approval to fill four vacancies in his department Tuesday. The move would require moving two employees up from the jail to fill current vacancies and hiring from outside for the two vacancies in the jail.

“My situation is a little different,” Chapman said when addressing the county commissioners. “I understand your predicament and why you’re asking me to police more mileage with less people. I’ve always bitten the bullet, but right now I’m not just biting it - I’m chewing it up, swallowing it and getting ready to eat the gun.”

Chapman said for his department its about the safety of the citizens. He had statistics to make his point, showing a comparison between Walton, Newton and Barrow counties. Although Walton County has a population of 83,768 compared to 99,958 in Newton and 69,367 in Barrow, Walton County covers a larger area with 330 square miles compared to 272 square miles in Newton County and 164 in Barrow.  At 376 jail beds, not only does Walton County have just four more than Barrow County, but it also has almost half the number of jail beds than Newton County, which has 700.

“My situation is getting kind of critical,” Chapman said, giving the increasing number of calls deputies have had to respond to from 71,093 in 2008 to 98,437 in 2010 and 56,820 just for the first half of 2011.

“My deputies aren’t able to police and look for criminal activity - we’re only able to respond to calls of criminal activity,” Chapman said, adding he has about eight to nine deputies out on shift at any one time, but believes he really needs about 15.

Commissioners unanimously approved the request, especially in the light of possible increased overtime rates should they have denied it.

In addition to those positions, there are two school resource officers required for the schools, but those salaries are paid out of the school budget, and one E911 communications operator approved prior to the hiring freeze.

Officials confirmed they were not taking any outside applications at the moment as those applications would be outdated by the time the hiring freeze is lifted. The county had received about 220 applications for positions in the sheriff’s office and an average of about 300 for each job advertised for other positions during the first six months of 2011.