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Sheriff’s office reports lower call volumes but rising crash toll; department promotes staff amid recruitment challenges
Summary
The sheriff’s lieutenant reported lower monthly call volume compared with last year but detailed a rise in crash totals for the reporting year (160 crashes, 34 with injury, two fatalities), a promotion to recreational deputy, and continued difficulty filling a vacant deputy position.
A sheriff’s lieutenant presented the monthly patrol and jail reports to the Sawyer County Public Safety committee, reporting mixed trends in public-safety activity and staffing.
The patrol report showed a dip in call volume for the reporting period to 687 calls — down from 1,281 at the same point the prior year — but year-to-date crash totals were called out as a concern: "we had 27 total crashes this period, eight with personal injury and one additional fatality along with the fatality that did not make last month's report... bringing our totals to 160 crashes, 34 with injury and two fatalities," the lieutenant said. The office also reported 31 traffic citations, 16 written warnings and one nontraffic citation issued during the reporting period.
Staff announced the promotion of Deputy Nate Fry to a recreational-deputy position; Fry is a 10-year department veteran and will coordinate with DNR wardens and local deputies on enforcement and education. The department remains in active recruitment for a vacant deputy position; staff said relatively few qualified applicants have applied and they have extended the job posting into early July.
On the jail, staff provided occupancy figures and average daily population statistics; the sergeant has added daily population numbers to regular reporting. Committee members asked no follow-up questions and thanked staff for the report.
