Prescott Wants More Deputy Coverage

PRESCOTT - The Prescott City Council is hoping to renegotiate its contract with the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office to add in specifics about maintaining a level of service and a better pres- ence in the small city.

Prescott's City Attorney Kris Hedine said the previous contract for service between the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office and the city of Prescott was signed in 2006 and an addendum was signed in 2009. That addendum was only good for one year, and so the contract has lapsed for the past two years.

Despite not renewing or renegotiating the contract, the city of Prescott has continued to pay the sher- iff's office $1,553.07 each month for services, Hedine said.

"The sheriff's office has been giving service at the same level," he said.

The 2009 contract dictates Prescott pay $18,636.84 a year for service from the sheriff's office, but it does not specify how much time deputies need to spend in town. The addendum in 2009 increased the amount Prescott paid annually by about $3,000, Hedine said, but it did not include more specifics either.

Some city council members and the mayor believe service has been reduced over the past few years, and because the sheriff's deputies are present less, there's more crime.

"They haven't been as visible in the community recently," Mayor Libby Mc- Caw said. "Vandalism has picked up."

Sheriff John Turner told the Times the office will work with Prescott on the matter.

"My plan is to discuss these issues with the City of Prescott," Turner said. "Cur- rently, our service and dedi- cation to Prescott remains unchanged."

Hedine said there are no disadvantages to allowing the contracts to lapse and the sheriff's office has been maintaining the same level of service since the contracts were signed. However, he said there is concern about the current level of service the deputies are providing.

The city is hoping to renegotiate the contract and sign a new document with more specifics.

"We need to clarify either the hours and the fees or some kind of administrative arrangement to allow for a deputy to be assigned to Prescott," said Council- man Doug Venn. "At this point, we'll be pursuing that and looking for some kind of agreement. There has been some concern about the level of service, but we need to be specific about what we want."

Venn said the city will need to take a look at the budget to see what it can afford. Prescott has never had problems meet- ing the financial obligations to the sheriff's department, McCaw said. Councilwoman Darlene DeCoria said the deputy response times to Prescott when there is an emergency are too long and that can be a frightening scenario.

"We really need somebody out here to patrol," she said. "They're not called unless it's really important."

DeCoria said some people in town don't believe law en- forcement is present and are causing trouble because they won't get caught.

"If they see that police are out here they'll get that out of their head," she said.

McCaw said Prescott and the sheriff's office have a good relationship and she believes that can be maintained. How- ever, she has noticed depu- ties aren't patrolling the city streets daily anymore. In the new contract, she would like see the deputies out in Prescott more often.

"I want to hopefully get back on an even keel with that we did have," McCaw said. "We just want more bang for our buck."