Mohave County sheriff asks board for 35 deputies and $5.75 million to reduce chronic understaffing

Sheriff Doug Shuster told the Mohave County Board of Supervisors on March 17 that the county’s patrol division remains understaffed and that the sheriff’s office needs 35 additional deputy positions and pay-scale adjustments to retain experienced officers.

Shuster said the patrol side currently has 57 deputies assigned to street patrol and that the office must pull staff for mandated duties such as detectives, boating enforcement, search-and-rescue and civil process. "We have 57, gentlemen," Shuster told the board. "We need 35 additional patrol deputy positions today." He said the full package — new positions, vehicles, equipment and employee-related expenses — would cost about $4.5 million and that addressing mid-range and top-out pay compression would add roughly $950,000. Shuster presented a combined total of…