Law Enforcement Reaches Out for Community Support

After a year when law enforcement was scrutinized by the public eye, Fredericksburg Police Department Chief Steven Wetz said the continued labor shortage is also affecting law enforcement.

“The shortage has created delayed response times and overtime cost,” Wetz said.

“Labor shortages in the law enforcement sector are strained due to the lack of people willing to put themselves into an environment where they are often criticized.”

Wetz said due to retention issues, it seems like the FPD always has positions to fill.

“Cost of living and Compensation comparisons with other communities make it hard to retain officers in Fredericksburg,” Wetz said.

Gillespie County Sheriff Buddy Mills also said with the cost to live in Fredericksburg, many applicants for open positions at the sheriff’s office cannot afford to live here.

“It puts a burden on the other employees of the sheriff’s office, because someone needs to be able to fill in that shift,” Mills said.

“We have to have a certain number of positions, especially in the jail, to cover the shifts per state law.”

The Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office, as of Friday, is hiring several positions for the jail and patrol.

Mills said being understaffed overworks the officers that are working, and even leads to burnout in some cases.

“Unfortunately, it’ll just burn them out,” Mills said.

“Burnout in law enforcement is a big issue to where people, their bodies, their minds, and their families, they just can’t take it anymore.” Mills said without community support, this burnout would hit his officers harder, so that’s why he is thankful for the Gillespie County community.

“We have fantastic support here,” Mills said. “Our sheriff’s office has been well-received, well-respected and well-liked for years and years and years … as far back as I can remember.”

Wetz agreed the police department is lucky since the community has overall been respectful and supportive throughout the years.

“Citizens from Fredericks-burg have always been very supportive of law enforcement,” Wetz said.

Mills added that since it’s a smaller community, many of the people his officers deal with are their friends, neighbors and acquaintances. He said this strengthens the relationship between the peace officers and citizens.

“The sheriff works for the citizens of the community,” Mills said.

Wetz emphasized the importance for the police department to work with other law enforcement agencies in the area in addition to the citizens.

“It is very important in law enforcement to network with other law enforcement agencies,” Wetz said.

The Law Enforcement Center, at 1601 East Main Street, houses even more departments than the sheriff’s office and police department.

Fredericksburg Police Chief Steven Wetz, left, and Gillespie County Sheriff Buddy Mills work together to keep communication between the two agencies consistent. — Standard-Radio Post File Photo

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“The only difference between us is the badge and our uniform,” Mills said. “But we’re all police officers.”

Even though Mills said it’s nice to be so close to their departments, all of their manpower combined won’t be able to do their jobs without the support of their community.

“Citizens can be more involved by calling in crimes when they see them and participating as jurors when called upon,” Wetz said.

Mills said he wants the local law enforcement to be as proactive as possible.

“We don’t want to become so bogged down that all we can do is react to calls,” Mills said. “We want to try to prevent criminal activity ahead of time. And in order to do that, we just have to have the resources to do it which are people, employees.”