The group — identifying itself as “Concerned Weber County Deputies” — sent a letter to the Standard-Examiner and other local media outlets Thursday morning that made reference to “critical” staffing shortages and employee compensation issues.

The letter took aim at the Weber County Commission for the shortfall in those areas.

“The understaffing issue is a direct result of the low pay at the Sheriff’s Office,” the letter stated. “People have been forced to leave the Weber County Sheriff’s Office and seek other police agencies with higher pay to pay their bills and feed their families.”

Among the items in the letter was a claim that patrol deputies are forced to provide law enforcement services at or below the minimum staffing level “on a frequent basis,” which the letter states has “caused unsafe environments for the deputies, increased response times to priority calls and less proactive work from deputies that lower crime.”

Weber County Sheriff Ryan Arbon, who was made aware of the letter Thursday, largely agrees with the concerned deputies’ assessment of the situation.

“We’ve been addressing this issue for four years and we’re still far behind,” Arbon told the Standard-Examiner, adding, “I absolutely support and stand side by side with our deputies. Public safety is our utmost priority and we need proper and adequate staffing and resources to do our job. I hope the commissioners’ actions will support that.”

Arbon noted that other agencies not only pay more but also afford officers greater opportunity to advance in pay scale and “top out.” He added that officers in Ogden start at “about $6,000” higher annually than their sheriff’s office counterparts, and that the starting wage at the Utah Highway Patrol is “$8-$9 more per hour.”

Some steps have been taken at the county level to improve the situation. Said Weber County Commissioner Sharon Bolos in a statement provided to the Standard-Examiner: “The Sheriff and his chiefs requested a $10,000 retention pay for employees that they felt would remedy the retention problem and the commission is following that recommendation.”

The commission also has initiated a countywide salary study. However, the study won’t be completed until 2025, which could push additional pay increases to 2026, according to the letter.

Weber County Public Relations Manager Jessika Clark provided an additional statement, which pushed back on the notion that the county commissioners have denied deputies increased pay.

“The commissioners want to ensure the safety of our deputies as they serve and protect the public. It’s important to understand that there is a retention issue not just with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, but across all county agencies and across the state. There have not been refusals from the commission to increase the pay at the Sheriff’s Office. An employee working in the sheriff’s enforcement division in 2020 is making on average 50.33% more in 2024. A corrections employee is making 52.53% more,” the statement read.

While Arbon agrees that there are issues at other state law enforcement agencies, he maintains that his office is nonetheless falling behind.

“There’s a minimum amount of staffing in order to get the job done right. For us, we’re at those minimums, but you can’t sustain those minimums for long periods of time,” Arbon said. “Morale is good here. They love their leaders and administration, but it’s really about money. We’ve been consistently behind everyone else by a substantial amount.”