Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux said it is his goal to bring his staffing from 221 to 332.

Since he first campaigned for sheriff in 2022, Heroux said community members have made it clear employee morale is low — primarily due to forced overtime. 

And Heroux said it’s time to change that.

“[The] safe functioning of the jail requires housing units are adequately staffed with [correctional officers],” Heroux said. “But forced overtime is not without consequences.”

He added since July 2021, attrition had been outpacing recruitment and the number of new correctional officers was not sustainable.

“It is my belief that had the low recruitment levels continued, the state would have been justified in impeaching whomever was the sitting sheriff for running dangerously low security staffing levels,” Heroux said.

Recruitment rates have already begun to see a change, he added. The last four classes prior to his arrival recruited 41 correctional officers for the academy and the most recent since his arrival has recruited 132 correctional officers. 

Heroux said factoring in employee attrition, this is a net gain difference of 18 new officers versus the most recent 93 officers.

Additionally, if the Ash Street Jail in New Bedford closes as Heroux hopes it to, resources will be consolidated to the Dartmouth campus, which will provide further relief for forced overtime, he said.

“I am not declaring ‘Mission Accomplished’ (Aircraft carrier in the Iraq war 2003 reference), but we are making progress,” Heroux said.

Though these larger class sizes have decreased forced overtime that would have happened had the previous decline in officers continued, it hasn’t eliminated the problem, Heroux added. 

He said his administration has implemented some initiatives to further increase recruitment, including dedicating one staff member to be a full-time recruiter, increasing the recruitment bonus, enhancing marketing material and strategies — such as making better use of social media and career fairs — and offering accelerated pay to those with relevant educational or professional experience.

“The increased staffing will make for much safer housing units, give [correctional officers] more support to manage and safely run a housing unit, while improving morale,” Heroux said.