An audit may end the dispute between Sheriff Stephen Simpson and members of the Board of Supervisors, according to Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Mercer), chairman of the Finance and Government Services Committee.
“Since we’ve been here, we have had a running dispute between members of the board and the Sheriff on appropriate funding levels for the Sheriff’s Office,” Burton said at the Sept. 3 committee meeting.
The idea for an audit arose when Simpson cut back the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program in July, a move he first discussed with Superintendent Edgar Hatrick. Simpson said he had to make the cuts to accommodate both a shortage in county funding and an increase in major crimes during the past year.
“Although [the cuts] may not be an earth-shattering event, it surfaced some of the agreements among some of us,” Burton said.
The audit will be used to identify whether the Sheriff’s Office’s resources are proportionate to the county’s population level and if the county is providing “adequate resources,” Burton said. “All of this creates uncertainty in my mind if we’re doing the right thing with the Sheriff’s Office,” he said.
Simpson “welcomed” the audit. “I don’t like that we’re in a state of confusion over something as critical as public safety,” he said, asking for input on selecting the company that will conduct the audit. “If you do a study, bring in someone who knows the law enforcement business,” he recommended.
Supervisor Chuck Harris (D-Broad Run) agreed. “Vendors need to understand law enforcement so they can make a reasoned independent analysis of the allocation of resources," he said, adding that he would like data, statistics and information “so we could have a reasonable discussion.”
Burton asked staff to draft a bid request for hiring a company that will audit the management and resources of the Sheriff’s Office.