Plumas County Sheriff Chad Hermann shared department statistics for February with the county board of supervisors during its March 10 meeting. He also clarified the relationship between arrest and jail statistics.
By the numbers
In February, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office fielded 2,234 calls for service. Of those, 391 were 911 calls and 1,843 were nonemergency calls.
Out of 1,029 total incidents for the month, officers wrote 81 reports and 68 criminal reports. Misdemeanor arrests totaled 20, and officers made eight felony arrests. They also delivered 38 traffic citations.
As the sheriff-coroner for the county, Hermann oversaw seven coroner’s cases in February for community members who died.
Animal control fielded the following calls for service:
- 10 in Quincy
- 10 in Portola
- 5 in Greenville
- 3 in Graeagle
- 3 in Vinton
- 2 in Chester
Officers also handled five bite cases.
Forty people were booked into the Plumas County Correctional Facility in Quincy during the month. The average daily jail population was 26, with a high of 38 and a low of 21. The facility can house 60 inmates.
Hermann told the supervisors there had been some confusion on social media recently regarding jail statistics captured by Citizen RIMS. PCSO uses the records incident management system by Sun Ridge Systems to share law enforcement information with the public.
The system only captures PCSO information, said Hermann, not statistics for other agencies such as California Highway Patrol, California Department of Fish and Wildlife or the U.S. Forest Service. If officers from those agencies make an arrest, it will only appear once the person is booked into the jail. If the person is bailed out, the arrest will not be reflected in the statistics, which only include in-custody inmates.
Staffing
Regarding staffing, Hermann reported progress in filling a dozen vacant positions in the department. Several candidates are in the process of completing their background checks, including two “laterals.: Hermann called that “phenomenal.”
Peay explained that laterals are applicants already experienced and certified in the jobs they are applying for. “These are typically more experienced employees and are very valuable to any agency,” he said.
PCSO currently has the following vacancies:
- Deputy, six positions
- Communications supervisor
- Dispatcher, two positions
- Correctional sergeant
- Correctional officer
- Correctional officer, court security
Peay said the department currently has 19 deputy sheriff positions allocated. One of those is dedicated to the courts. Thirteen of the positions are filled.
Eighteen correction officer positions are allocated, with one of those dedicated to the courts. Sixteen are filled.
Of eight dispatcher positions allocated, six are filled. Of those six, one dispatcher is currently in training. Peay said the position he himself is currently filling — communications supervisor — is technically vacant; the department is hiring for that position.
Hermann congratulated officer Van Domiano, who recently passed the field training officer program. This intensive, months-long training is a requirement to become a full-fledged sheriff’s deputy.
