Luce County Sheriff’s Department is understaffed
The Luce County’s Sheriff’s Department staff is stretched thin.
The department has only three full–time officers and one part–time officer. This number is a fraction of the FBI’s recommended 22 officers for a county Luce’s size.
“We’re short,” says Undersheriff Eric Gravelle. “We never have more than one deputy working the road at any time. We’ve had a couple of incidents where I’ve got guys rolling around in the ditch, and there’s no back-up anywhere.”
He said without proper funding, it’s unlikely the county will be able to expand their staff.
The full-time officers are funded by millages, while the part-time officer is paid completely through grants. This means if the department ever loses these grants, they’ll lose the funding to pay his salary.
The rest of the funding is up to if Luce County residents. If they don’t renew the millages, the county will not have money for full-time officers.