As Pasco grows, so does demand for public safety, Sheriff Nocco says

When Pasco commissioners met this week to talk budgeting with other elected officials, one message was on repeat: the fast-growing county has a long and expensive wish list.

That list included hiring more sheriff’s deputies and at higher pay, building the long-promised new courthouse for the county’s public safety campus in Land O’ Lakes and even buying equipment and software, including beefed-up cybersecurity systems.

The workshop was requested to add transparency to the county’s budgeting process, allowing constitutional officers and representatives of the judiciary to explain their budget needs, which county commissioners will consider over the next few months. Sheriff Chris Nocco and Chief Judge Shawn Crane played starring roles.

Nocco provided rapid-fire statistics on how the sheriff’s office continues to fall further behind in its ratio of deputies to population. Since July, he said, Pasco commissioners approved another 10,000 residences across the county, which equates to a need for 40 additional deputies.

“We’re not keeping up with the growth,” he said. “We’re falling behind the curve.”

According to state law enforcement statistics, Pasco is number 63 among Florida’s 67 counties with one deputy per 1,000 residents. In the region, each county surpasses that ratio, with Pinellas having nearly two deputies for every 1,000 residents. Pasco would need to hire 96 deputies to achieve parity with Hillsborough, and 478 to match staffing ratios with Pinellas.

Salaries also lag behind those other counties. Pasco pays starting deputies $56,764 compared to $65,000 in Pinellas and $60,016 in Hillsborough. Even Pasco’s correctional officers, who now work for the county, make $57,500.

Nocco said the county’s penny sales tax, which pays for deputy vehicles, doesn’t cover all of the cost. The 10 additional deputies the county has provided annually doesn’t come close to addressing what Nocco said is needed.

Nocco said salary was his top concern but more deputies are needed to keep up with the growth Pasco has seen. He showed charts of the widening gap in the ratio between deputies and citizens. While Nocco told commissioners that he supports the concept of a dedicated tax to pay for deputies, that would likely be “one of the largest tax increases in Pasco’s history.”

He wanted to see the gap in the number of deputies closed first before the new tax is discussed. He was also asking for more support staff to provide some relief for deputies in the field and a new armored tactical vehicle.

Crane, the chief judge for the 6th Judicial Circuit covering Pinellas and Pasco, also had big-ticket items in mind for county commissioners to consider — a new, centralized criminal courthouse in Land O’ Lakes to take the pressure off the judicial centers in New Port Richey and Dade City. A growing county means growing needs for legal and court services because some of the residents come with “issues,” he said.

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The idea has been discussed for years. One version combined the new judicial center with the new jail, but ultimately the two projects were separated. Last year, a facilities study put the cost of a stand-along courthouse at $155 million at the low end.

Consolidating the offices of both the state attorney and the public defender in Land O’ Lakes would provide more efficiency, would extend the life of the east and west side judicial centers and would allow the county to provide a courtroom for each judge. Crane also said it would provide better security, more convenience for residents and a better transport system for inmates going to and from court.

Pasco’s other constitutional office representatives also talked about growing needs. The clerk of the court needs to spend more on cybersecurity so it doesn’t come under the same type of attacks that have taken place in Hernando, Leon and St. Johns counties, said Tim Jamison, director of information technology.

Hernando County was just hit with a breach in late March and is still not back online with all services.

“The County is cooperating with state and federal law enforcement and a team of cybersecurity experts to investigate the claims and the full nature and scope of the incident,” according to a statement from the county.