The three divisions of the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department are facing a combined vacancy total of more than a dozen positions. Even with some of the positions filled by applicants at various stages in the hiring pipeline, the department is still struggling to hire qualified staff, officials told members of the public safety committee June 4.
Ironically, Kasey Cross, communications supervisor, submitted her report in advance, because she had to cover a shift in the dispatch center.
“Currently, we have six vacant full-time positions, as one of our full-time members opted to go to a part-time position only,” Cross said. “The dispatchers have been stepping up to make sure we have coverage where needed; they are all working long hours for multiple days in a row and are giving up days off in order to ensure coverage is provided.
“Even with that sacrifice, we have to operate with only two dispatchers on duty during day and afternoon shifts. Collectively the group is getting tired.”
Troy Beyer, jail administrator, echoed Cross.
“We currently have six vacancies, three applicants in the physical and psych testing phase,” he said, noting that the day before, one of the applicants pulled out of the process.
He said a few others are in the background investigation stage.
Last month, the jail division had four vacancies. One correctional officer transferred to the patrol division, while a second quit the industry altogether.
Cross noted some bright spots on the employment front.
A candidate with experience is expected to start her training June 17. A second candidate was set to complete her testing June 6, and Cross said that if all goes well, the second candidate could start by the end of June.
Chief Deputy Ty Raddant said the officer who transferred from the jail was second in his class. The department is talking with one of his classmates about a job in the jail and then transferring to the patrol division when a position opens.
“Since our last meeting, we held interviews for our last patrol position that we had an opening in … we made an offer to our top candidate pending his psychological and medical (tests), which are coming up very soon here,” Raddant said.
He hopes the candidate will be on board by the end of June.
Raddant acknowledged the difficulty in finding qualified staff for the dispatch center.
“The hard part about in there is the training just doesn’t take a couple days and you’re ready to go. You’re talking two, three months, and you only have so many trainers,” he said. “We’re not getting a whole bunch of applicants. A lot of our applicants really don’t meet the qualifications. The last couple we hired just didn’t make it through the training.
“It takes a special person to be in there to be able to handle all the computer stuff and everything that goes on in there. You just can’t have a guy off the street do it.”
Julie Hasser, county human resources director, said there are a variety of reasons for the vacancies and wages are among them.
When the county switched to its current wage scale, many dispatchers found themselves on the lower end.
“We struggle bringing in a brand new dispatcher,” Hasser said. “We can’t necessarily start them above all of the ones that have a lot of experience here.”
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