Sheriff hopes county will OK more deputies

Elmore County Sheriff Rick Layher will be pushing the county commissioners to add more patrol deputies to his staff when the county begins looking at next year's budget.

The recent winter storms have underscored his limited manpower on the roads. There were times when there were simply more accidents than officers available to deal with them, and since most of those accidents were on I-84, it meant pulling deputies off their regular patrols of the county's roads.

Depending on shifts, days of the week, and anticipated problems, Layher typically has 2-4 deputies patrolling the county, which is larger than some states, at any given time. He has a deputy in the Pine-Featherville area, is responsible for 24/7 law enforcement in Glenns Ferry (which gave up its police force several years ago), has deputies patrolling 1,000 miles of county back roads, and also has responsibility for one of the deadliest stretches of I-84 in the state.

"We carry a big fatality rate" on the interstate, he said, largely a product of people simply driving too fast.

To help on I-84, the Idaho State Police have beefed up its patrol presence in the county, sending several additional officers into Elmore County each day.

But as much as he appreciates that help, and he does, Layher believes he needs a minimum of three additional patrol officers on staff to deal with the growing population and traffic on the county roads.

And he's optimistic he'll get it.

"The county has been very receptive to our needs," he said.

Last year, the county gave him the extra staff he needed to properly run the new jail, although some of those extra costs have been offset by the $80,000 a month in revenue the facility is earning housing prisoners from other jurisdictions.

And using a grant from the state Department of Parks and Recreation, Layher was able to add a summer boating safety officer to his force, who also doubles as a detective in the winter, helping augment that department.

But it's the patrol deputies that are his top priority.

"We're getting more traffic," he said, and more calls for assistance, all the time. Right now, his patrol division is simply stretched too thin. "We really need to boost our presence out there on the roads. Everybody knows we need it.

"I know that, in the end, it's a matter of revenue," Layher admitted. "Does the county have the money to do it? That remains to be seen. But if they do, I'm confident the commissioners will come through for us. They've been good to us and recognize the need as well."