Proposition C.O.P.S. committee begins education efforts

Last month, shortly after the Perry County Commissioners took action to place a referendum question on the April ballot seeking approval for a sales tax increase to fund a joint county/city justice center, a committee was formed.
For Prop C.O.P.S. Committee members, as well as those assisting unofficially in getting the measure approved later this spring, getting more familiar with the sheriff’s office operations as well as the conditions of the county’s other facilities was a first step toward that effort.
“It’s so small, cramped and overcrowded,” said Becky Paulus, who is chairing the Prop C.O.P.S (Court Operations Police Sheriff) Committee seeking to inform the public about the proposed tax initiative on the April 6, 2021 ballot. “Right now, something has to be done with the Sheriff’s Department. That’s the most emergent part of the problem.”
Paulus, who served as Perry County Circuit Clerk from 1998 to 2018, has been told it’s more than just about cost.
“The committee education effort will be focusing on the need for more space, particularly for the Sheriff’s Department where inmates are housed, updated infrastructure, elimination of duplicated services such as two 911 dispatch centers, efficiency and more effective communication for law enforcement and the courts, and security for both law enforcement agencies, the courts and the public,” Paulus said.
Perry County Presiding Commissioner Mike Sauer has gone on multiple tours of the sheriff and jail facilities.
“They outgrew that place the day they moved in,” Sauer said, adding that mold is a concern in the basement of the dispatch area as well as in the showers used by the inmates.
Lack of storage space, in both the kitchen and the laundry areas is another concern, Sauer said.
Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf, who first took office in 1993, didn’t mention a specific biggest need for his department.
“It would be difficult to name a single top priority, but generally speaking we have just outgrown the place,” Schaaf said. “It’s a safety thing for the employees and the inmates, as well as the community.”
At this time, the department does not have a secured place to interview individuals.
The facility’s kitchen was designed to feed 16. As of Feb. 4, there were 40 inmates getting meals at the Sheriff’s Office. The average daily population for the jail is about 34 to 35 inmates, according to the sheriff.
The kitchen offers little to no storage. A look to the right inside a walk-in storage reveals “a rat’s nest of wires,” according to Schaaf. To the left, storage shelves and boxes block access to the circuit breaker box.
Initially, all the wiring was routed via a pipe through the now. However, it now goes through the ceilings tiles.
The dispatchers’ room is divided in the middle by glass, which was done in an effort to cut down on tendency of noises to echo, Schaaf said.
In addition to the dispatchers, the jail control operator also works in this area.
“There’s just no more room,” said a dispatcher.

The dimly lit dispatch area has a restroom in the basement, which is prone to leaks.
Just outside the sally port area, where individuals are brought just after an arrest, a wall was recently cut out Feb. 4 near the booking area to make room for a body scanner. That body scanner, similar to those used by the federal Transportation Security Administration as a security measure at most domestic airports, allows the department to check whether or not those waiting to be booked are attempting to sneak contraband into the jail.
“It will probably be a few weeks before we can get the scanner installed and get the vendor up here to train the personnel in it’s use,” Schaaf said.
Many sheriff employees must vacate their offices when an inmate is scheduled for a court television appointment.
The general population portion of the jail, where male inmates are kept in individual cells but have access to a collective area, is where the majority of prisoners stay.
A separate women’s side, divided by a loosely fitting tarp, provides a small level of privacy.
Each inmate room has a toilet and there are shared showers at each corner in the main level. Humidity is an issue, as the showers weren’t designed with the proper ventilation.
Showers also are in “dormitory” areas as well, though those locations are only for about three to five inmates.
When there is not enough room, prisoners often must sleep on a small mat on the floor.
Putting additional resources into the Sheriff’s office at this stage wouldn’t get the office to work more efficiently, Paulus said.
“They’ve just outgrown it. There’s not enough space to do what they do,” she said.
Paulus toured the sheriff’s office facility Feb. 4.
“It is obvious that an investment will have to be made in improving or rebuilding that facility in the near future,” Paulus said. “The Missouri legislature is very concerned about combining 911 Dispatch in Missouri communities.”
A document prepared by Missouri’s Department of Public Safety titled “Missouri 911 Modernization and Improvement Report” released Dec. 31, 2017 calls for the 911 consoliation of public service answering points (PSAPs).
“Consolidation of PSAPs is one method of creating efficiencies that could be considered, if that action creates financial aid and operational efficiences for the PSAPs involved,” according to the Public Safety report.
At this time, both the City Police Department and the Perry County Sheriff’s Department each have their own 911 Emergency Dispatch services.
“With those changes on the horizon, it only makes sense to move our community forward with a joint justice center that can address the needs of all of these agencies and our citizens,” Paulus said. “The facility being proposed would be on target with the progress our elected officials, community leaders, and citizens have always supported for the good of our residents.”