Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department closes lobby after business hours due to staffing
PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (KY3) - The doors to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department lobby will remain closed after business hours because of a shortage in staffing.
Sheriff Jimmy Bench says his current employees are overwhelmed.
”They feel overloaded,” said Sheriff Bench. “You know, it’s overloading just to be a dispatcher itself. Then when you are short-staffed and have to work extra hours and overtime it takes a toll on your family life.
The department currently has four full-time dispatchers. Two of them remain in training.
”It takes a while to get them certified in MULES, they have to go through rigorous training to be certified in MULES, it takes a while to get them to where they can operate the calls coming in,” said Sheriff Bench.
A dispatcher must meet responsibilities in the training.
”They answer phones, they answer the radio, they are taking care of the computer, and typing in what’s going on, you know, in the log, so that we have the information, the deputies have the information so they can get that information off of what time they got there, what time they left, things like that,” said Sheriff Bench.
Some even come in with the hopes of one day becoming a deputy.
The sheriff said he is aware this is happening to departments all over the state, even the country.
”It’s not just us that is shorthand. It’s it’s everywhere. Seems like nobody wants to work. And those that do want to work a lot of times are not qualified, or they just want a paycheck,” said Sheriff Bench.
To apply for one of the open positions go to their website.
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