RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. — Staffing shortages are continuing to impact several Triad law enforcement agencies, they say it started during the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn't resolved yet.
One county in particular is reaching critical numbers, they say. Randolph County wouldn't provide an exact number, but leaders say they're concerned for the future.
"I'm a field supervisor and I'm in charge of making sure there's people there to answer calls and I'm worried about the future... So, as far as the police department and the sheriff's office we are on the lower aspect of that, we're not able to compete with many agencies within the county," said Lt. Adam Hicks.
The High Point Police Department is in a similar situation.
Chief Travis Stroud says they have 36 open officer positions, which is nearly 14% of the force.
"We're short staffed, I think I can speak for almost all law-enforcement agencies at least in our Triad area. We have to have people to do this job, and when you don't have the people then you need to come up with strategies that are alternatives that can help us to still deal with this problem because the problem is not going away regardless of our number of officers that we have on the street," said Stroud.
On the other hand, the Burlington Police Department is in a much different situation. The agency is eight officers short from being fully staffed, according to a spokesperson.
Emily-Lynn Adkins is the Public Information Officer, she says last November they increased officer pay and offered wellness leave, which seems to be working.
"We are definitely in a better place than we were a year ago. The staff that were here and have been here have received some of these new benefits that kind of come at different intervals throughout their career, and of course, the increase in pay our new cadets that are just starting have been incentivized to join law-enforcement, which is wonderful," said Adkins.
The Greensboro Police Department is following suit.
Back in June we reported the department increased pay more than 18% from $46,367 to $55,000 per year.
Hicks says Randolph County Sheriff, Gregory J. Seabolt is having conversations with county commissioners about increasing deputy pay.