Cumberland County Sheriff's Office creates recruitment video while facing alarming staffing shortages

The events centered around the death of George Floyd and the COVID pandemic put a damper on recruitment during the past several years.

WRAL Fayetteville Reporter Gilbert Baez is live after speaking with the Cumberland County Sheriff about his latest recruitment effort.

Wake County jail approaching capacity

Recruiting new deputies to fill the ranks of just about any law enforcement agency has become extremely difficult. Sheriff Ennis Wright is pulling out all the stops promoting his office and a great way to launch a career in law enforcement.

He's created a recruitment video that is just over two minutes long. It features deputies performing a variety of duties.

The Sheriff says his staffing shortages are alarming.

He's authorized 755 total personnel, but only has 556 on board. That's a shortage of nearly 200 employees.

Wright is most concerned about his staffing at the Detention Center. He's authorized 178 detention officers but currently only has 98 officers working in the jail.

In addition to the recruitment video, the Sheriff runs his own Law Enforcement Academy to help fill the ranks.

And that way, we bring them in, we offer a bonus here, a sign-on bonus when they come here," Wright said. "We pretty much get you in the mindset that you going to work for the sheriff's office here."

The Sheriff said the starting salary for a deputy sheriff is more than $50,000 a year. And like most employers, law enforcement officers have optional health and dental care, paid holidays and sick leave, even a 401K plan.

The Sheriff says even with all that, finding qualified candidates to work in law enforcement is still extremely difficult.

He hopes the video helps in his recruitment efforts, but the sheriff is first to admit, being a law enforcement officer isn't for everybody.

"We're not dropping our standards to fill numbers," Wright said. "You see, when you drop standards to fill numbers, that's when yourself and your organization are in trouble. We have to get out in the community and just build back trust again."

To put those numbers into context, we asked Wake and Durham counties about their vacant deputy positions.

Attorney General Josh Stein is headed to Fayetteville Thursday to talk about possible solutions.