LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) – Police departments in the north country are having a hard time finding officers.
“It’s been pretty difficult,” said Lewis County Sheriff Mike Carpinelli.
Why? He’ll tell you it’s because of a combination of things. And it’s not exclusive to Lewis County.
“Half is due to the politics. The other half is due to, not you, but other media outlets that have really jumped on the bandwagon of the racist, end-Neanderthal police they think is inherited across the country, which it is not, as we know,” said Carpinelli.
Throughout the department, there are 7 vacancies. Spots he’s worried he won’t be able to fill given the number of people taking recent deputy exams.
“Usually we see anywheres between 20 and 30 people taking that exam, and now you’re getting three or five,” said Carpinelli.
The problem also exists in Watertown.
Right now the Watertown Police Department has 62 officers on the streets. Typically that number is around 67.
But come July 1, the department will be budgeted for 72 officers, meaning ten vacancies.
Detective Lieutenant Joe Donoghue says those numbers have taken a bit of a toll on his current force.
“They like coming to work, but they also like spending their time off. It has been difficult with the number of officers we’ve had on the road. They’ve been working a lot of overtime,” he said.
He says officers tend to leave for other nearby agencies like State Police or the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.
In its last academy, Watertown lost 2 out of 6 recruits to other agencies, and one other dropped out.
“We also lost some officers who were on the job already who went to another agency,” said Donoghue.
With hopes of helping fill out the ranks, Watertown has a police exam on September 17. The deadline to apply is August 16.
In addition to new recruits, Donoghue says the Watertown Police Department is also looking for lateral transfers (currently New York state-certified police officers) who would like to join.
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