Clark County Sheriff’s Office Announces Service Cuts

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Clark County Sheriff’s deputies won’t be responding to certain kinds of calls beginning March 31st.  Reporting will be done online instead.

Sheriff Chuck Atkins says his department has reached a point where it has become critical in alleviating the strain placed on too few available deputies for the number of calls for service.  He presented the Clark County Council with options to help give immediate relief to staffing shortages in all branches in addition to long-term solutions.  To date, the council has not implemented or enacted any of the suggested changes.

The work load is too big for deputies to handle.  Deputies will no longer respond to the following kinds of crimes:

• Theft of property under $750
• Theft from a vehicle
• Minimal damage to graffiti to property
• Minor crimes involving  juveniles at school
• Non-life-threatening phone calls
• Fraud, scams, or ID Theft less than $5,000
• Assaults with minor injuries
• Lost and found property
• Trespassing where property owners don’t want to file charges
• Trespassing on public lands
• Minor traffic or parking complaint
• Welfare checks on homeless or mentally ill persons where there’s no crime or threat to the public