JOB INCREASE The counties have seen an increase in the numbers of overall jobs. Collin County Dallas County Denton County Tarrant County Key:
LOW UNEMPLOYMENT Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties have seen lower unemployment rates in all industries than in previous years, according data from late 2022. Because of this, the job market is competitive to employ people.
2.5M
Key:
Employed Unemployed
2,088,756
DALLAS COUNTY
COLLIN COUNTY
1,863,939
2M
58,044
18,625
1.5M
1.43M
626,815
608,190
1.37M
1,130,578
Total
Total
967,575
1M
608,712
DENTON COUNTY
TARRANT COUNTY
420,897
39,932
16,717
500K
1.13M
552,700
363,203
252,665
535,983
1.08M
Total
Total
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Years
SOURCE: WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS FOR NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS FOR NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
essential to public safety and the judi- cial system, Eads said. “You can’t incarcerate people with- out having detention officers,” he said. These officers are “critical” to the
“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we’re going to get through it,” Denton County Sheriff Tracy Mur- phree said at a Lewisville Chamber of Commerce meeting in the fall.
reiterated Eads’ point. Staffing pres- ents serious challenges, and it is an issue that he manages on a daily basis, Skinner said in an email. The Collin County Sheriff’s Office has just under 10% openings in deten- tion officers and just under 3% open- ings in deputy sheriffs, Skinner said. The starting salary for a detention offi- cer is $19.23 an hour. All jail salaries were increased by the county commissioners from a total sal- ary budget of $28.68 million in 2022 to $32.07 million in 2023. “Unfortunately, in many sheriff’s offices across the country, the vacancy rate exceeds 35%,” Skinner said. “By any measure this is a crisis.” In Collin County, detention officer turnover has been a challenge, as well.
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increased by 7.7%. To combat the shortage, officials have turned to recruiting and finan- cial incentives. Staffing shortages These law enforcement staffing challenges are not limited to North Texas but have been seen statewide, Denton County Judge Andy Eads said. “Denton County is not alone in our challenges here,” he said. “It’s a state- wide and national trend.” The Denton County Sheriff’s Office has seen a decrease in applications for law enforcement and is now expe- riencing a 35% staffing level at its jail. Having a fully functioning jail is
“ UNFORTUNATELY, IN MANY SHERIFF’S OFFICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THE VACANCY RATE EXCEEDS 35%. BY ANY MEASURE THIS IS A CRISIS.” JIM SKINNER, COLLIN COUNTY SHERIFF AND CHAIR OF THE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE FOR THE NATIONAL SHERIFFS’ ASSOCIATION
public safety infrastructure, he said. The shortage has caused a burden on the jail staff, Eads said, as employ- ees now have to take on more shifts to staff the detention center.
He described the “dire” staffing levels the department experienced during the meeting as a way to bring awareness. Skinner, from Collin County,
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