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SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KTVU) - The Sonoma County Sheriff is warning that low pay among its deputies is depleting its force and leading to service cuts.
The Sheriff's department says there's been a steady stream of deputies walking out the door.
Not because they don't like it here but because they can make more money just down the road. The department never had trouble finding qualified candidates or keeping seasoned deputies.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Cecile Focha told KTVU that has changed.
"We're not able to attract and retain employees. They're going to other agencies," said Focha.
There are 221 deputies in a department staffed for 250. Many department employees are qualified to retire and could walk out the door any time.
Deputies say they take home about $2,000 a month less in pay than officers in Napa and Marin counties.
Joe Dulworth, the president of the Sonoma Deputy Sheriff's Association says the exodus is unprecedented.
"Never happened before in the history of this department . We've never lost a deputy to Santa Rosa PD. We've already lost one there and we have approximately eight more on background (checks)," he told KTVU.
Sheriff Steve Freitas took to Facebook Tuesday.
"I have the money in my budget to hire deputies, but the low take-home pay caused by the cost of medical benefits is not reasonable to potential candidates," he wrote.
Dulworth says the continued loss of deputies is bound to affect the way the department functions.
"If this keeps declining there's no way we can continue to do the same job without some type of service cuts," said Dulworth.
In fact, the cuts are already coming.
The department's Henry One helicopter is grounded because the pilot took a better paying job elsewhere.
"For example the detectives unit, community oriented policing, marine unit, we're moving deputies out of those positions to fill staff positions in patrol," said spokeswoman Focha.
Eileen Estrada is a bartender at the Penngrove Pub, a small tavern in the hamlet outside Petaluma. It is in a rural area patrolled by deputies.
"That's not right. That's not right," she told KTVU of the cuts. "I've been here 17 years. This is a family bar and this is how it should be."
The biggest issue is medical costs. Deputies pay more out of pocket than those in other departments.
Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbit wants to fix that.
"There's areas we can work with there that we can still adhere to our pension reform goals and get more dollars in our employees' pockets," he told KTVU.
Dulworth hopes upcoming negotiations will help keep deputies, but the Deputies Association president probably won't be around to see how it turns out.
He's already accepted a job in Napa County.
"For me, myself everyone's got to make their own call for their family and that was the right choice for me."
Negotiations on a new contract and potentially higher pay are expected to begin in December.