During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, staffing levels at the Osceola County Sheriff’s Department were critically low. Sheriff Mark Cool was struggling to cover road-patrol shifts to ensure the county was adequately being served. 

“When I became sheriff, staffing levels were pretty low. We were down five openings on the road,” Cool said. “We keep 24-hour coverage for our road patrols, and at the time it was tough on our staff. My undersheriff and I were known to work a shift or come in for a few hours of coverage here and there just to maintain coverage on the road.” 

Because several departments in the high-demand public safety industry were facing similar hiring challenges, Michigan Works! West Central established the Public Safety Careers Council of West Michigan. This initiative, part of the Sector Strategies – Employer-Led Collaborative (formerly the Michigan Industry Cluster Approach), aims to address the staffing needs of first-responder agencies across the region. The collaborative was formed to help attract, train and retain talent for police, fire and EMS agencies in Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Newaygo, Oceana and Osceola counties. 

To address the critical staffing shortages faced by agencies like the Osceola County Sheriff's Department, Michigan Works! West Central partnered with the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) to create a training pathway for road patrol officers. State funding for this collaboration supported trainee wages, benefits, and tuition at the West Shore and Kirtland community college police academies. 

“Through this program we have been able to help the Osceola County Sheriff’s Department develop a pathway to advance the careers of some of those who have dreamt of a career in law enforcement but were unable to make that leap for different reasons,” said Shelly Keene, Michigan Works! West Central Executive Director. “This employer-led collaborative has been incredibly successful! In the past three years, a total of 18 individuals have completed law-enforcement training from seven different police agencies. We also have been able to help seven individuals complete paramedic training from four agencies in our region.”

Thanks to this initiative, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Department was able to train seven road patrol officers and become fully staffed, saving the county more than $70,000 in training expenses. The department also sponsored an additional two trainees at academy utilizing other funding sources. 

“Our retention rate is 77 percent with the individuals we’ve sponsored,” Cool said. “The reason for the high retention rate, I believe, is we’re valuing that employee and we’re giving that person a chance to better themselves at basically no cost to them. … Without the funding (from Michigan Works! West Central), the county couldn’t have taken on that financial responsibility. I really think that this has just been a huge benefit for our staff. This partnership has been amazing.”