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This information is provided by the candidate
- Restoring Community Trust
Law enforcement is about serving people and keeping our families and communities safe. My vision is to lead an effective, efficient and service oriented office.
Experience has shown me that communities are always safer when law enforcers work with the people they are responsible for protecting to solve and prevent crime. Years ago people knew who their local Sheriff or Sheriff's Deputy was. Back then, it was considered part of the job of Deputies to stop and talk to business owners and local residents about crime prevention and solving neighborhood problems. Besides keeping crime rates lower, this relationship made our county a friendlier and safer
place to live, work and raise a family.
With your help, we can train and condition our Deputies to become more involved in our schools and community and restore community trust.
- Emphasizing Community Patrols
Unfortunately today, law enforcement throughout our nation, as well as our Sheriff's Office, has followed the modern trend of isolating our deputies inside their patrol cars. Law enforcement practices have become reactive instead of proactive. I believe this the opposite direction for a successful Sheriff's Office to go. As your Sheriff, I will insist that our Deputies allocate a reasonable portion
of their on duty time getting to know residents and business owners.
If a single mom is having problems with a child or if a student is aware of drugs being sold to classmates, will they ask for help or ignore the problem if they don't know a Deputy they can
trust? Obviously, there is greater chance that they will seek help from a Deputy they know. As your
Sheriff I will rebuild and expand our long neglected Resident Deputy Program, enhancing our services to all areas of the county, remote and urban.
- Restoring Customer Service
Throughout our county, I continue to hear concerns about our Sheriff's Office being too bureaucratic, uncaring, and staff asking rude questions during stops and contacts. This will change under my leadership. Sheriff's Office employees will understand that they work for you. They need to be
respectful and listen when you need help. If elected, I will insist that all personnel, from the front counter to top management, understand that the Sheriff's Office is a service organization dedicated to serving the public.
The concern I hear over and over from local business owners is that little or nothing has been done to solve break-ins and thefts at their businesses. I continue to hear stories from residents who came home to find their homes ransacked and personal property stolen; feeling that our sheriff's office did not do enough to catch the crooks responsible.
This is unacceptable. As your Sheriff I will work hard to combat, solve, and deter crimes against property by implementing my vision of improving our community interactions and expanding the Resident Deputy Program. These programs will improve both patrol and investigative staff response
- Respecting Second Amendment Rights
The Second Amendment was drafted by our Founding Fathers to guarantee individual Citizens the right to self-protection and self-defense. We all know that the Sheriff's Office can't assign a deputy to instantly protect you and your family 24 hours a day. I believe the Sheriff's current policy for licenses to carry concealed weapons is too restrictive and as your Sheriff, it will be the first policy I would modify. I will adopt a fair "shall issue" CCW license policy; whereby any county resident passing our state's strict criminal background check, has not been adjudicated mentally ill, is of good moral character and demonstrates competence with their firearm through state required training shall not be denied.
Too often government agencies are easy marks for slick salesmen hawking the latest and greatest technology gadget. As a law enforcement professional and fellow taxpayer, I want to see that our Sheriff's Office gets the best value for our hard earned tax dollars. When elected, I will institute a strict policy whereby purchases must pass my fiscal responsibility test asking: Is it vital? Is it important? Or would it be nice to have? Will we get value and save money? Will it significantly improve efficiency?
What is the cost to benefit? I will improve effectiveness and efficiency office-wide and reduce costs whenever possible.
Having managed large teams of individuals to accomplish complicated and difficult feats in public safety, I am ready for the challenge of managing the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department. My beliefs and values coupled with my leadership skills will change the personality of the department and make law enforcement more effective for the people.
These are very difficult financial times. My vision as your Sheriff is to step back and re-direct our existing resources to our core functions which are:
- Providing high quality patrol and investigative response services 24-7
- Providing Coroner services
- Maintaining our detention facilities and caring for the inmates in our custody
- Provide security to the superior court
- Provide civil services county-wide
- Manage the Office of Emergency Services (OES)
- Provide Public Administrator services
- Providing Search and Rescue services
Public safety is my number one goal and we need more deputies out in the schools, businesses and community. As your Sheriff I will audit every section and division within the Sheriff's Office for duplication, waste, and effectiveness. I will reorganize the office where needed and increase the number of deputies working for you in the community.
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