By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP — The Ohio State Highway Patrol is ready to lend a hand to the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department, which issued layoff notices to more than two dozen deputies this week.
“If another law-enforcement agency requests assistance, we will assist them,” said Lt. Mike Harmon, superintendent of the OHP post in Saybrook Township. “We are asked regularly (by police agencies) to assist in various capacities.”
Twenty-seven deputies were laid off Tuesday as a cost-cutting measure. Beginning today, only one cruiser — staffed by two deputies — will patrol Ohio’s largest county. Cut loose were 16 road deputies, eight corrections officers, two dispatchers and one evidence person.
OHP can offer help to deputies with investigations, provide backup on traffic accidents and hold a crime scene, among other duties, Harmon said.
Jurisdiction is not a problem, Harmon said. When a trooper is asked for aid, the trooper automatically takes on the authority of the agency in need, Harmon said. Also, troopers are permitted to patrol all public roads in the county, not just state routes and interstate highways, Harmon said.
In the past, OHP has been consulted by communities investigating possible crimes committed by public employees. Troopers also handle investigations of crimes committed in state prisons, including the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut.
OHP has suffered its share of budget woes, but its posts are still able to lend assistance when requested, Harmon said.
“We’re certainly here to help,” he said. “If asked, we will help.”
In announcing the layoffs, Sheriff William Johnson also said the population at the county jail would be reduced but still be able to house violent criminals. The jail situation won’t pose a problem for Conneaut, which has a city jail that can house prisoners for only a few days at a time. Conneaut infrequently sends its prisoners to Jefferson, said Public Safety Director Jon Arcaro.
“(The sheriff’s department) very rarely accepts our prisoners, anyway,” he said.
During the past several months, the city made changes to help reduce its inmate population after budget cuts took away some corrections officers, Arcaro said.
