By Mike Kanalakis

Sheriff Kanalakis has a proven track record of preventing and fighting gang violence. More importantly, he has a plan to continue to combat this public safety menace over the next four years. Sheriff Kanalakis will implement cutting edge technologies such as AFIS, a biometric system of fingerprinting that will be installed in all patrol cars by next summer, which will allow your Deputies to confirm the identity of any subject they come in contact with. In addition to new modes of fighting crime, Sheriff Kanalakis will also continue to cut off gang violence at its roots. Working with other county and educational leaders, Kanalakis will work to implement a new school safety plan in conjunction with the County Office of Education in order to ensure that youths who may be attracted to gangs decide against that path.

Mike Kanalakis will continue to build organizational unity in the fight against gangs and drug trafficking.

Sheriff Kanalakis has a history of team building in the law enforcement community. Just this year, Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown came to Salinas to commend the county and local law enforcement leaders + including Sheriff Kanalakis + who helped take hundreds of gang members off the streets during Operation Knockout. Kanalakis will continue this work in another term. He will increase cooperation within the County by enhancing the Gang Task Force of which he helped create. He will also reach out to state and national law enforcement agencies to get Monterey County the help they need in fighting the war on gang violence. He will utilize revolutionary criminal intelligence sharing by implementing programs such as COPLINK. Additionally, he will support Cal Gang tracking technology, currently in use in our County jail, to work with California officials on identifying and tracking gang members from across California who infiltrate Monterey County. Finally, he will work in his third term to form and meet with a Latino Advisory Commission and a Youth Advisory Commission.

Mike Kanalakis will protect your tax dollars.

As Sheriff, Mike Kanalakis has produced a balanced budget for eight straight years. This does not happen by accident. He understands that he is not only the County's top law enforcement official, but also a department head responsible for proposing a solid budget. When re-elected, Sheriff Kanalakis will continue to use the relationships he has built with local, state, and federal elected officials to leverage grant money and other funding sources for Monterey County law enforcement. Additionally, he will make the hard staffing decisions necessary to be responsible with your tax dollars, even when those decisions are politically difficult and unpopular.