Granville County leaders work to address law enforcement shortages

Across the country, law enforcement agencies are working to fill the gaps in their labor force.

Granville County leaders are working to train new hires and make the job attractive for prospective employees.

Sheriff Robert David Fountain Jr. says his office is experiencing “growing pains.” However, he says he’s willing to work through them.

“We, as a community, and we, as an agency, are working together to get it done,” he said.

Since Fountain took office in December 2022, Fountain said several deputies have left, especially within the patrol division. He believes pay disparities was one main reason.

"Because we had an exodus of people with a newly elected sheriff, some people wanted to find pastors greener somewhere else, which we then had to start looking at recruiting people that were new to the game," Fountain said.

To fill the gaps, Fountain implemented a Field Training Officer Program, pairing investigators with younger staff members.

During the program, the department is able to “utilize [the investigators] because they’re seasoned certified deputies, to be in the performance of their duties for them to ride along or shadow, for them to serve civil papers, domestic violence papers…so, they would learn two processes at the same time, and be able to do patrol duties and answer calls for service,” Fountain explained.

“It’s a benefit for the community, because we will now have more people on the ground, and we’re training these younger ones before we release them from the Field Training Officer Program,” he said.

WRAL News asked what the motivation is for the more seasoned deputies. Fountain said some of the vacancies have led to more internal promotion opportunities.

“Because some of the people who have been here for a while left their promotional opportunities. For those ones that have been mid-level guys, now they can be mid-level managers,” he explained.

People on social media have called out Fountain for hiring younger, inexperienced staff. WRAL News asked for his response to the criticism.

“Every deputy that has been here for over 20 years, majority of them came here with no experience,” he said. “And, that’s what everybody must understand. You’re going to get some that are qualified. But if you don’t pay them for those qualifications, degrees and experience, you won’t get it.”

That’s where the Granville County administration comes in. County Manager Drew Cummings recommended a budget to the commission that includes pay raises for deputies in addition to lower health care costs.

“Most employees are likely to see $6,000-7,000 difference,” he said.

Cummings said the hope is that the increases will attract more talent with experience.

“We needed to make some big adjustments in order to be able to compete,” he said.

Granville County deputies currently make $40,993. When compared to neighboring or city agencies, Cummings said Granville’s pay was much lower.

“The increases have been targeted at early-stage law enforcement and detention officers. We’ve made the largest adjustments there. Some of those salaries are going up by 15-20%,” he said.

The county commission is still in the process of reviewing and considering the final budget. However, Cummings said he expects the pay raises to be approved.

Current local law enforcement salary survey results: Click or tap here

Granville County proposed minimum starting salary: Click or tap here