Deputies will no longer patrol in daylight hours in this Northern California county

Daytime patrols by sheriff’s deputies are set to end Nov. 20 in Tehama County in Northern California as officials grapple with a “catastrophic” shortage of deputies.

Officials are negotiating with the California Highway Patrol to respond to daytime emergency calls, Sheriff Dave Hencratt said in a Monday, Nov. 7, news release.

Deputies will continue to patrol and respond to emergencies at night, and also will try to respond to any daytime non-emergency calls, the release said.

Tehama County, which contains the city of Red Bluff, straddles Interstate 5 south of Redding and Lake Shasta. It has a population of 65,000 people.

Hencratt blamed the decision on “a catastrophic staffing shortage throughout the agency.” Pay disparities have created a “drastic rise in attrition” and hindered efforts to recruit new deputies, he said in the release.

The agency has been forced to transfer deputies from patrol duties to staff the jail and courts, leaving it without enough officers for 24-hour patrols, the release said.

The department will restore daytime patrols when it can recruit enough deputies to do so, Hencratt said in the release.

The Tehama County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, which posted the news release on its Facebook page, blamed county supervisors.

“Rather than take swift and decisive action, they have delayed and allowed too many good employees to leave,” the union wrote.

“Absolutely terrible news to hear,” read one comment on the post.

This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 10:06 AM with the headline "Deputies will no longer patrol in daylight hours in this Northern California county."