Agreement to help address staffing at Merced County Sheriff's Office

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A new agreement aims to address staffing shortages at the Merced County Sheriff's Office.

The department has been sounding the alarm for months, even telling people to report certain non-violent crimes through an online portal due to the lack of deputies.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors agreed to new terms with the Deputy Sheriff's Association.

The deal includes increased compensation to help keep current staff and to recruit more deputies.

Sheriff Vern Warnke says part of the problem is losing employees to other departments that pay more.

He claims even this new agreement is just a temporary fix.

"I'm not going to shy away from it," he said. "I'm outspoken -- just tickled that they came to an agreement with the DSA right now. But they've got a year. I'm figuring in about eight months, they're going to have to figure this out because in less than a year, they're going to have to be renegotiating with deputy sheriff's, our custodial deputies, our dispatchers, the coroners, the whole gamut. That everyone that wears this brand is going to be affected."

Details of the financial agreement have yet to be made public, but Sheriff Warnke says it's set to be ratified by the deputy sheriff's association on May 4.