Video of an inmate in Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office custody sliding his way past a detention officer shocked many around the country when ABC15 first broke the news last week.
But it could be a symptom of an office struggling to fully staff their facilities.
“Right now MCSO stands about a little over 800 detention officers short,” said MCSO spokesperson Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez. “The perfect candidate right now is anyone who wants to come up here and apply.”
Before the pandemic, MCSO was about 15 detention officers short, but even as they bring in recruits, the numbers continue to dwindle.
“We’re losing detention officers to other law enforcement agencies and to the private sector,” Enriquez said.
It is a job that traditionally has appealed to ex-military and law enforcement, but today MCSO says the ideal applicant is anyone with interest.
“I’m telling you, you can come in here and if you have the will to do it, you can be a part of the MCSO family and we encourage that,” Enriquez said. “We’re going to give you the tools you need."
Because of the staffing shortage, command staff has had to get creative in moving officers and inmates around to make sure there is proper coverage.
“Making sure we’re watching everybody and doing what we need to do but that becomes extremely tough when you’re down so many people,” Enriquez said. “If you’re working every single day, are you getting burned out, are you tired, are you missing things?”
Part of the struggle to appeal to applicants is the lack of a retirement plan for detention officers
Enriquez says Sheriff Russ Skinner is working on a plan to present to the Board of Supervisors to introduce a pay step scale so detention officers will know how much they’ll make at certain year milestones in their careers.
“Every sheriff wants their agency to be the best agency and they’re willing to pay lots of money but the funding comes from the county board of supervisors,” Enriquez said.
The recruiting push is on though, with MCSO offering a $7,500 signing bonus for new hires on top of wages starting around $55,000 a year.
Through the end of the year, MCSO will have 25 hiring and recruiting events, including an open event for detention officer candidates on October 22 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the MCSO Training Center.
You can learn more and see the open positions by clicking here.
