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Sarasota News Leader August 2, 2013 Page 57 Forty percent of Sarasota County residents One positive factor about the Sheriff's Ofare 60 or older, while 26.9 percent are ages fice's target demographic for future recruitment, Hawkins continued, is that its members 45 to 49. will be mostly "Millennials" — people born That age factor, Hawkins continued, "makes in this century. That means they will be "very it a challenge to find good employees" for the tech-savvy," Hawkins noted. "When they were Sheriff's Office in in Sarasota County. The de- in preschool, they were surfing the Internet." partment looks for candidates in the 21 to 41 age range, he pointed out. Military retirees in On the flip side of that, however, Hawkins the 35 to 38 age range also are typically good said, Millennials comprise only 17 percent of Sarasota County's population, compared to 28 candidates, he added. percent, for example, in Hillsborough County. Sarasota County residents are also well educated, Hawkins continued. However, while Another positive factor for the Sarasota Coun94 percent of those ages 25 to 34 have high ty Sheriff's Office in terms of recruitment, school degrees or the equivalent, only 19 per- Hawkins continued, is that it has a low attricent of them have bachelor's degrees from tion rate — 4.9 percent — putting it near the bottom of rankings in the state. colleges. Still, Hawkins said, "It's not uncommon to see By comparison, the attrition rate for the Manthe kids today take longer to graduate," which atee County Sheriff's Office is 6.7 percent, he said. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's might explain the latter finding. rate is 4.8 percent, while Pinellas County's is Regarding the cost of living, Hawkins noted 6.5 percent. that Fort Lauderdale and Miami have the highest indices in the state, according to 2012 fig- From 2009 to 2013, the Sarasota Sheriff's Ofures for 12 Florida reporting areas. Sarasota fice lost about 30 deputies per year, including County and Bradenton both had a composite those in Corrections, Hawkins pointed out. "A index of 99.5, fourth highest in the state. Tam- lot of 'em went for retirement," he said. Some pa ranked the lowest on the index, at 93, the were terminated, and some left the Corrections staff for law enforcement positions in figures show. other counties because Knight had no openHousing expenses are a key factor in deter- ings for them. mining that ranking, he pointed out; yet, that However, Knight has used cross training opis an important consideration in recruiting tions and reimbursement for training to lure candidates for the Sheriff's Office. "It's gosome people back to the department, Hawing to cost [Knight] a little bit more" to conkins added. vince someone to take a job in the Sarasota County department compared to positions One big concern, Hawkins continued, is that in other counties with lower costs of living, Knight will be losing about 35 high-ranking officers to retirement over the next five years. Hawkins said.