Cuts may eliminate elementary officers

MANATEE COUNTY — Dep. Russ Younger stood before a class of fifth-grade students at Gullett Elementary School talking with students about the consequences of their actions as part of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office’s Crossroads program.

Dressed in his Manatee County Sheriff’s Office uniform, Younger looks every bit as commanding as any officer of the law. But to the children of the five East County elementary schools Younger serves as a school resource officer, he is a confidant and friend, who not only is helping to teach them right from wrong but also showing them they don’t have to be afraid of law enforcement.

“I become a part of the family with all my kids,” Younger said. “That’s what most SROs do. I try to intervene and make sure the kids start making the right choices.”

But Younger’s post is one that may fall victim to budget cuts at the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in October. Among other cuts, Sheriff Brad Steube is proposing to eliminate five elementary school resource officer positions. The elimination would save both the sheriff’s office and the Manatee County School District $240,000 each.

In total, 14 positions at the sheriff’s office would be eliminated under Steube’s recommendation. That money, in turn, would be used to pay for increased fuel costs and capital replacement equipment during the next fiscal year.

“I’ve eliminated, in the last three years, 43 positions,” Stuebe said, noting most have had an internal impact but have not been noticeable to the general public. “In the past, the majority of those positions have not been positions associated with calls for answering service. Now the public is going to see I have nothing left to cut except where it is going to be (visible).”

Manatee district officials say the elimination will affect students directly.

“Eliminating SROs at the elementary schools is not something the district wants to do, but we have to ‘live within our means,’ and we are looking at every avenue to meet this goal,” district spokeswoman Margi Nanney said, noting the district pays for part of the SRO’s salary.

The district plans to use remaining SROs at middle and high schools to cover duties at elementary schools. Specifically, in areas such as Braden River Elementary/Braden River Middle and McNeal Elementary/Nolan Middle, this should prove feasible, Nanney said.

“Principals can also call 911 when the need arises to have a deputy dispatched,” she said.

Freedom Elementary School Principal Jim Mennes said the work of elementary SROs is one that reaches far beyond the school.

“He is not a resource; he is one of my best resources,” Mennes said of Younger. “I don’t have kids toting guns or gang violence (here). (But) he talks to the kids about making good choices. These guys do amazing work with children.

“He’s a tremendous resource for my families,” Mennes said. “The term SRO — that’s really what they are.”

Despite Steube’s proposed cuts, the sheriff’s office budget actually amounts to a 4.4% increase, which includes the addition of 10 road patrol deputies and 10 corrections deputies at a cost of $2.077 million, and a 3% salary increase for all employees for a total of $1.87 million.

Steube said the proposed increases are necessary to continue fighting crime successfully.

The sheriff’s office reduced the county’s crime rate by 12% in 2009 and by another 4% in 2010, largely because of crackdowns on gang activity. But, Steube said, the numbers are again going up, with only a 1% decrease recorded for the first four months of 2011.

“I’m 50 deputies short on the road and 100 short at the jail,” Steube said, noting the deficit also causes him worry about the safety of his employees, particularly at the jail. “I’m very concerned that crime is going to even out or begin to increase. In fact, we’ve seen an increase in several areas recently — burglaries to auto and homes.”

Improving the ratio of deputies to residents will play a key role in keeping crime under control, lowering the county’s overall crime rate, and consequently encouraging businesses to come to the area, Steube said.
“I’m trying to make our community safer and do all these things (and help) bring businesses (here),” Steube said. “I can only do that if I have the resources to beat this crime down.”

Steube also said he is losing employees to other agencies for higher pay, a scenario that is taking seasoned professionals off the roadways in Manatee County and wasting valuable training dollars — about $100,000 from the time a deputy is hired to the time he’s out patrolling.

The sheriff’s office, he said, has not offered any pay increases to its employees in four years, meaning deputies who are training new hires are still making the same starting pay, in some cases.

“That’s the situation I’m in,” Steube said. “I find it distasteful.

“I can’t continue to lose people to surrounding agencies because our pay is stagnant,” he said.

If the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners decides to pay for the sheriff’s office by separating the sheriff’s millage from the rest of county services as commissioners suggested last year, a millage increase of about 1.90, or about $30 per household annually, would be needed, Steube said.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].