THE PLAN FOR YOU AS A WORKING SHERIFF
Accountability
Policies and records, available to the public, preserve the trust of the people we serve. I will provide full disclosure of all taxpayer monies that are used by the Sheriff's Office each year. Each dollar will be accounted for. Policies will be developed that outline a standard set of guidelines that ensure equal application of the law. I still believe in our grade school pledge, which ends "...with liberty and justice for all." Our policies help to ensure the fair and equal application of justice, and will be available to view on the internet and at the Sheriff's office.
Personnel
As your Sheriff, it is my goal to provide you with ethical and professional officers to serve you. My officers will be expected to live by the law they enforce. As your Sheriff, I will take a full evaluation of all existing officers upon assuming the office. As Cannon County Citizens, you can expect change for the betterment of the department. I will only employ the best officers to serve your needs. As your Sheriff, any decision that I make regarding employees of the department will be an informed and educated decision in an effort to improve and re-structure the image and effectiveness of the Sheriff’s Department. My deputies will be expected to display the best moral and professional conduct at all times, under any circumstances. This is to include all command staff. There will be no exceptions. Anyone who is employed with the Sheriff’s Department will represent the office in a professional manner, whether they are discharging their duty or in their personal time. As I said earlier on my website, you have to earn respect, not demand it. As your Sheriff, I will have a strict and clear set of guidelines that all employees must follow. As your Sheriff, I will establish a plan for the receipt, investigation and resolution of complaints of officer misconduct. As your Sheriff, my goal is to insure that the integrity of the Sheriff’s Office is maintained through a system of internal discipline where fairness and justice are assured by an objective and impartial investigation and review. As your Sheriff, we will not be plagued by internal issues that will distract us as a department from the duty to serve you effectively. Our focus as a department will be to protect and serve. As your Sheriff, we will work to gain your trust, confidence and respect.
Reporting
As your Sheriff, there will be clear avenues of communication between you as citizens and my office. What you get for your money is just as important as how it is spent. A full report of arrests and convictions will be provided continually. We will make every effort to keep the public informed on the daily activities of the Sheriff’s Department. As your working Sheriff, I can be easily reached for any issue or concern. Building strong relationships between the Sheriff’s Department and you as Cannon County Citizens is vital. We must devote significant time and resources to public information. In order to keep you informed as to the workings of the Sheriff’s Department and the crimes that are being committed in our area, there must be a significant amount of open communication. Avenues of communication include but are not limited to the media, technology, and one-on-one communication with you as citizens. There is no reason to keep you in the dark about what is happening within our department or within your neighborhoods.
Training and Education
Court decisions and changes in the law every year can affect our ability to arrest and keep perpetrators in jail. With my background in law enforcement education and leadership, I possess all avenues to better the department with crime solving and prevention education. Knowledge and training is critical to our effectiveness, and I intend to provide as much as possible to every employee of the Sheriff's Office. My officers will be provided only the best tools and education in order to protect and serve you as Cannon County Citizens.
Focusing on crime
As your Sheriff, I would like to turn the department from a reactive agency to a proactive agency. Not only should we be effective in reacting to a crime that has already been committed, we must also be proactive in an effort to prevent crimes before they start. The crime rate in Cannon County has increased drastically. I will use every asset at our disposal to effectively and aggressively enforce and prosecute criminal activity. Cannon County will not be a place for criminals if I am elected Sheriff. If you are a criminal, you won’t go unnoticed by my department. As your Sheriff, our community must be informed of crime prevention techniques so they can help themselves avoid becoming victims of crime. I am committed to building a stronger relationship with the citizens of our community; to being open and up front with them; to being available and approachable and to educating them so that all of our families can live safer lives. As your Sheriff, I would like to take an assessment of the county and where there are areas that lack patrol. As your working Sheriff, I will accept feedback from you as citizens in an effort to identify areas of need. I would like deputies that hold residence in strategic places within the county for a quick response for emergency service, and each deputy will have an area in which they will focus on patrol. Deputies may not be everywhere at one moment, but we will focus every effort to equally provide service for everyone in the county. As your Sheriff, my department will take seriously any complaint or call for extra patrol. Cannon County is composed of two incorporated towns, Woodbury and Auburntown. Auburntown currently does not have police service. At one time, Auburntown was provided full time Sheriff’s Department service. As your Sheriff, I would like to restore this service to the citizens of Auburntown. Earlier, I discussed the topic of building relationships with you as a citizen. As your Sheriff, I would also like to focus on building relationships with our local, state and federal agencies. These agencies may provide us with tools to solve crimes that may not be readily available within the Sheriff’s Department. As your Sheriff, we will use every tool that is available, and will take every path to empower the department with enhanced tactics to protect and serve you as Cannon County Citizens. Criminals have no boundaries and do not follow any jurisdictional lines. This is yet another reason we must increase and improve our communications and partnerships with other area local law enforcement agencies, as well as with our Prosecutors and Federal law enforcement agencies.
Leadership
The Sheriff must be a leader, not just a manager, figure head or a politician. A leader can manage, but a manager cannot necessarily lead. The Sheriff should be someone that can do, and has done the work of his officers. The Sheriff should have first hand knowledge of the problems and crime that the officers and citizens are encountering on a daily basis.
The Sheriff needs to be in touch, and in order to be that way, the Sheriff must lead from the front. As a former deputy, patrolman, captain and currently Assistant Chief of Police, I stand with those qualifications and experience. These are reasons why I pledge to be your working Sheriff. As your Sheriff, I will be seen by my officers and by the citizens, and will set an example for both. As your Sheriff, I will assemble a solid team of professionals with the same common goal of making the department better, and the community safer. With such a team in place, we will be able to create an atmosphere for the best possible approach for making decisions that will lead to positive changes. I believe that we have to share ideas and listen to those that will be most affected by the changes that will be made. With a good command staff, we will not waste time, money and resources on changes that will be counterproductive or simply won't work.
Financial Responsibility
As your Sheriff, I would like to explore external resources for public safety funding, in an effort to reduce the burden on you as the taxpayer. As your Sheriff, my department will roll up our sleeves and get to work to develop more creative ways to provide effective law enforcement. We must look hard at the department to see what is working and what is not working. Tough decisions as to how the department operates on a daily basis are going to have to be made. As your Sheriff I am willing to make those tough decisions. I will assemble an administration of qualified people that will take that hard look at where your tax dollars are being spent and how we can use that money in more effective ways.
