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$1.7 Million cut from Sheriff's Office Budget - What it means for our communities

On June 25th, 2020 the Marin County Board of Supervisors voted to cut $1.7 million dollars from the Sheriff’s Office budget.  

A reduction of this size cannot be easily absorbed and will mean a reduction in staff and service at a time of significant demand. 

With this budget cut, the Sheriff’s Office must freeze four Deputy Sheriff positions. Last year, Deputies handled 63,279 calls for service in Marin County. With an average of only six to eight Deputies working at a time, our response times to calls for service will be impacted by our reduction of Deputies coupled with our current call volume.

During this COVID-19 crisis our 911 Communications Dispatchers have been tirelessly meeting a tremendous call volume.  Unfortunately, these budgets cuts will require four of those positions to also be frozen. Last year, our 911 Communications Dispatchers handled a total of 247,011 phone calls. The demand on our 911 Communications Dispatchers will be strenuous with the loss of these positions.

In addition, we will have reduced staffing levels at the Point Reyes Substation starting July 30th, 2020.  Our coastal communities will still receive service at all times of the day and night, but response times will be longer in some emergencies depending on where a Deputy is located in relation to the call for service. We will have Deputies assigned to work our coastal communities from 11AM to 11PM everyday. 

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office is committed to providing public safety coverage to all areas of the county in as swift and professional a manner as possible.  We will rise to the challenge of these budget cuts and reduced staffing, as we have done in years past, to ensure the quality of life we all enjoy in Marin County.

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