Inside the Sheriff's Office during the COVID-19 pandemic

DAYTON-Columbia County Sheriff Joe Helm's overarching goal is to get back to the fundamental basics of law enforcement; through proper staffing, handling calls appropriately, providing deputies with the proper equipment, and establishing a good relationship between his office and members of the community.

When Helm took office on Jan. 1, 2019, he began to implement his goals and ideas and was well into it, early in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and social distancing guidelines began hampering his efforts.

"Zoom is great but doesn't compensate for face-to-face interactions in a good prosocial environment," he said.

One of the most significant impacts has been the inability to provide the deputies with the type of hands-on training they need. Deputies now only have access to modified, online training, which is not ideal.

Helm said social distancing guidelines have also affected the Search and Rescue training program.

During the summer months, his office coordinated with the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office to organize a core group of volunteers. Unfortunately, the volunteers have not been able to complete their competency certification because of social distancing guidelines.

Another problem that can be laid at the door of the pandemic is his office's inability to extradite inmates back to the county because the busing system for inmates is not operational.

"If they are arrested in another state, or part of the state, we have to go to where they are to pick them up," he said.

Helm said he wanted to build on efforts, begun in 2019, to establish a better rapport between the Sheriff's Office and people in the community. A successful Citizens Academy was held in 2019 but had to be canceled in 2020 along with National Night Out because of social distancing rules.

"We want to be involved. So, we try to be involved with the schools. We try to be involved in sports programs, and education type things for the community."

Having a school resource officer on-site at the Dayton schools has been a top priority for Helm. He said he had been working with the Public Health Department and school officials to identify sources for funding. Still, progress has been slow, mainly because of the uncertainty about whether students can be taught in their classrooms during the pandemic.

When asked how the COVID-19 situation is impacting Dayton's crime rate, Helm said property crime inside Dayton city limits has fallen, mainly because people are staying home. However, the property crime rate is still a factor for outlying areas.

The crime rate, in general, is following the national trend. Deputies are responding to an uptick in mental health, domestic abuse, and juvenile related calls.

The biggest problem, locally, is still drug and alcohol use, from which most criminal activity stems, he said.

Helm said being involved in community organizations, like the Coalition for Youth and Families (CYF), helps deter youth from alcohol and drug use.

The county will be better served when two patrol deputies are hired, he said. The Civil Service Commission has just provided him with a certified list of three qualified candidates for his consideration.

Right now, deputies are working on-call and over-time to cover the hours between 3:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., a situation that will change with two more patrol deputies on board.

The Sheriff's Office is currently without a Chief Deputy. Helm said it is possible one of the three candidates will meet the qualifications for that position.

Helm intends to work on strengthening the reserve deputy program after the office is fully staffed.

He said volunteers are always welcome at the Sheriff's Office.

"We will take any and all volunteers that are willing to help out. Our community gets the best service by proper training, the proper number of deputies, and volunteers, working together, to make it possible," Helm said.