During his first budget cycle, Cuyahoga County Sheriff Harold Pretel is seeking to increase the number of deputies under his command by 50% and expand the department’s law enforcement presence throughout the county.
There are currently 180 deputies on staff at the County Sheriff’s Department, who primarily serve warrants for the courts and assist with security during protests and other events. Pretel is asking for 90 more deputies.
But Pretel's boss, County Executive Chris Ronayne, has proposed a budget for next year that would maintain staffing levels at 180 deputies.
During a budget hearing at county council Oct. 30, Pretel said one of the department’s responsibilities under state law is “maintaining the peace throughout the county.”
“I mention that because, as in any legal document, the things that are mentioned earlier on in a legal document have more weight and certainly have more credence,” Pretel said.
In August, Cuyahoga County announced a new downtown safety patrol made up of eight deputies and a sergeant conducting traffic stops and other enforcement activities in Downtown Cleveland. Pretel told council in early October that those deputies “seized more firearms than any law enforcement agency in Northeast Ohio” after eight weeks in operation.
“The downtown safety patrol continues to deliver superior service throughout Cuyahoga County, not just limited to Cleveland,” Pretel said on Oct. 30. “In the past few weeks, we’ve had a number of requests from other cities, and we’ve responded to those and mobilized that unit to support those requests.”
But later in the hearing, Pretel told council the four cities that had requested help, Beachwood, Cleveland Heights, Independence and a fourth he could not remember, had requested security at events, not patrol.
“Nothing specific yet that says, ‘Hey we need you to patrol our streets for crime,’” said Pretel.
Pretel said the additional deputies are also needed to help respond when someone under court supervision cuts off their monitoring bracelet or violates a protection order.
He’s also asking for eight additional drug-sniffing dogs at the jail so every person who enters the facility is screened. The county only has two narcotics officers to investigate drug cases at the jail and increasing the number of dogs would likely lead to an increase in cases.
The biggest difference between Pretel’s proposed budget and the executive’s proposal is the 90 additional deputies. Ronayne included funding for an additional 40 corrections officers, who work inside the jail and courthouse.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the executive said Ronayne agrees with Pretel’s plans to expand the size and role of the deputies.
“He supports Sheriff Pretel’s plans to assist municipalities with specialized impact units to safeguard our communities, take guns off the street, and protect our residents,” said Communications Director Kelly Woodard. “The County Executive will continue to collaborate with the Sheriff to review personnel levels and to evaluate opportunities for growth with a focus on the core, required functions of the department.”
Several council members were skeptical that Pretel could absorb that many new hires within a year.
“I just lack my ability to believe that any group can absorb that kind of training level,” said Councilmember Jack Schron. “I’ve always historically seen that it takes about a year-and-a-half to two years to get people up to speed.”
Pretel told council he would seek to hire experienced officers from other departments. And, despite the well-documented challenges in police recruiting in Cleveland and nationwide, Pretel said he would be able to fill the new positions quickly.
“There’s a reason we’re at 180 today, which is our maximum cap, and we do have a list a mile long of officers who want to be laterals,” Pretel said, referring to officers working in other departments who may take jobs in the sheriff's department. “Everyone handles their own space accordingly, and when it comes to that, I am 1,000% confident my staff can make (absorbing 90 officers) happen.”
The county executive has not indicated any plans to change his budget request to include the 90 deputies. Instead, he could potentially come back to council outside of the budget process. Council could itself add additional personnel to the budget and may invite Pretel back for another hearing.
