AG Stein in Asheville says recruiting law officers high priority; 22% vacancy sheriff says
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ASHEVILLE - Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat running for governor, and Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller in a joint appearance Aug. 30 pressed for more state funding and increased pay for law enforcement ― as the county Sheriff’s Office grapples with a 22% vacancy rate.
This is not a new issue, Miller said, highlighting how Buncombe County commissioners have been supportive of increased pay for officers. However, Miller asserted that “we need to address the cost of living,” which he says makes even the recently-awarded 6% pay increase for Asheville Police Department officers incompatible with living expenses and thus makes it hard to get and maintain officers.
The starting salary for BSCO patrol officers is $51,000, and detention facility officers see a starting rate of $54,000, according to Miller. Requirements include high school graduation or completed GED, at least 21 years old, and have no felony charges.
“We’re still in need of, again, more money,” Miller said at the press conference. “But we cannot just keep saying more money, we have to start addressing the cost of living here. Our deputies have extremely hard jobs, but we would also tell you that their jobs have now increased because of mental health issues and substance use issues.”
Stein presented a slate of policies – totaling $23 million – that he would like to see funded in the state’s budget, including expanding the criminal justice fellows program, offering law enforcement hiring bonuses, launching an out-of-state recruiting campaign, stopping the pension penalty for retired officers who return to work and incentivizing further education or training through bonuses.
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A look at local law enforcement numbers
Miller said they are focusing their recruiting efforts on the Buncombe County Detention Facility, which faces the most job vacancies. Out of 191 budgeted positions in the detention division – which is the largest division in the Sheriff’s Office – there are 50 openings for detention center officers who work on shift and in housing units, according to spokesperson Aaron Sarver.
Despite over one-fourth of their total detention positions remaining vacant, Sarver said the county jail is meeting minimum daily staffing requirements per the jail inspector. Each housing unit has a maximum number of 46 detainees, which are overseen by 16 to 18 detention officers per unit. Sarver said there are 436 detainees as of Aug. 30, with 11 out of 13 of their housing units open.
Miller mentioned a pilot program from last year in which the Sheriff’s Office offered $5,000 sign-on bonuses for those hired at the detention facility with previous experience and $3,000 bonuses for those with no experience. However, Sarver said these bonuses are not currently happening and “did not impact retention in a meaningful way.”
BSCO job recruiters are now going out with human resource personnel, Miller said, so they don’t have to wait for them to fill out an application and send it in, they can “get them right then and there.”
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The Asheville Police Department started out 2023 down 40% of budgeted staff positions, Police Chief David Zack said in a January presentation. As of Aug. 15, there were 65 open positions for sworn police officers, spokesperson Samantha Booth told the Citizen Times.
On a daily basis, APD has 143 sworn officers out of 238 available, Booth said, and 40% of sworn staff now unavailable. Job postings for police officers and trainees are continuously open, she added. Booth said Aug. 30 she couldn’t immediately respond with the most current numbers.
What are AG Stein’s proposed strategies to help recruit and retain more officers?
“What we know is that fewer well-trained law enforcement officers can lead to more violent crime,” Stein said at the press conference. “That's why I've been working along with the Sheriffs Association, the Chiefs Association, and others, to develop a series of proposals to help recruit and retain law enforcement officers across North Carolina.”
Stein’s recruitment and retention strategies include the following:
Expand the Criminal Justice Fellows Program, which repays community college loans for people who work four years in a North Carolina law enforcement job. This program would be expanded to all 100 N.C. counties under HB 612.
Stein proposes that Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) graduates be offered $5,000 bonuses, while out-of-state transfers and former military police should be offered a $10,000 bonus and $10,000 relocation stipend.
Launch an advertising campaign to recruit officers from other states.
Allow retired officers to come back to work without their retirement pay being impacted, which is covered in SB 113.
Provide bonuses for officers who get additional education or training, up to a bachelor’s degree.
Offer specific, tailored mental health and wellness resources to officers for law enforcement-specific difficulties.
In aggregate, these proposals would cost $23 million out of a $30 billion budget, Stein said, adding that about half of that estimated cost "had to do with our estimates of what the hiring bonus for out of state officers into North Carolina would cost the state."
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Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. News tips? Email Ryley at rober@gannett.com. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe sheriff, AG Josh Stein call for more law enforcement funding
