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Goals for the Sheriff's Office
1. I will give the sheriff’s
office back to the people and ensure there is truly an OPEN DOOR policy.
The
Bonner County Sheriff’s Office belongs to all the people of Bonner
County. There must be an OPEN DOOR policy at all times, for all people
and not just a select few some of the time. Earning the trust and
respect of the citizens of Bonner County is very important to the
sheriff’s office and it’s personnel and having an OPEN DOOR policy is a
necessary and important policy.
2. I plan to eliminate all politics from the
Bonner County Sheriff’s Office.
Politics need to be eliminated from the Bonner County Sheriff’s
Department. Politics do not belong in law enforcement as the law
pertains to both private citizens and law enforcement personnel
regardless of rank or social status.
3. I will do my best to earn the
trust and respect of the citizens of Bonner County.
If we
in Law Enforcement can earn the trust and respect of the citizens, then
a rapport will exist enabling law enforcement personnel to perform their
duties more effectively in solving all criminal cases. It is the
citizens who help law enforcement solve the many drug cases, burglaries,
thefts, etc. and without this help law enforcement, many times, is
wandering about the county blindly in an attempt to solve a case.
4. I will raise the morals,
ethics, and integrity of the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office.
Over
the last few years the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office has lost and is
still loosing experienced officers, not because of low wages and poor
retirement benefits, but because they feel they are compromising their
morals, ethics and integrity. There are very few veteran officers left
to train the newer and younger officers being hired.
5. I will promote from within the
department.
Bonner
County Sheriff’s personnel need to be promoted within the department.
Persons from outside the department have been hired and placed in
supervisory positions over experienced and qualified officers with more
time in service within the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department.
Experienced and qualified personnel are being passed over for positions
they have worked hard for and deserve. Positions have been created so
relatives and friends have a place to work. Qualified and certified
personnel have been taken out of positions they have worked and trained
hard for and placed into positions where they must start over again. The
present administration is hiring friends, relatives, and unqualified or
untrained personnel to replace qualified personnel. The results of doing
this are serious cases are being lost and lawsuits are rampant,
especially in the jail.
6. I will work to bring all of
Search and Rescue back together under the Sheriffs Office umbrella.
The
Search and Rescue units have been divided over a kind of power struggle
from within. Search and Rescue volunteers should be treated with the
utmost respect and handled with care as they provide needed services to
the community in times of need. When called upon to perform a vital
function for the Sheriffs Office, they give of their time and personal
equipment in order to do the job. They are a key part of the Sheriffs
Office family and should be treated as such.
7. I plan on re-establishing the
apprehension K-9 unit.
The
Bonner County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit was established in Bonner County
approximately fifteen years ago due to the loss of an officer, a loss
which possibly could have been prevented had the unit already been in
existence. The people of Bonner County have donated the dogs and funding
for this program; a program that has proven to save lives and assist in
the apprehension of criminals and locating missing persons. This program
is being discontinued and the patrol units labeled as K-9 units no
longer have K-9’s in them.
8. I will take whatever measures
are available to the sheriff’s office to make sure the drug manufacturers
and drug dealers think twice before establishing their illegal businesses
in Bonner County.
Everyone seems to know where the drugs are in Bonner County. Several
citizens have told me that when they have called to report drugs or give
assistance they have been ignored, their phone calls have not been
returned, or they have been told there is nothing going on. I will
strive to ensure this does not continue. The Bonner County Sheriff’s
Office must earn the trust of citizens and be able to work with them
regarding the drug problem in Bonner County. Law enforcement and
citizens working together will help to gradually eliminate the drug
problem we have in this county.
9. I will do every thing possible
to purchase vehicles from within Bonner County.
The
purchase of patrol vehicles is a big portion of the sheriff departments’
budget. In order to keep the budget down, patrol units must be purchased
at the most affordable price, yet not compromising the safety of the
vehicle. Bonner County needs to work with the local dealers in an
attempt to keep our funds in Bonner County.
The
standard colors of a sheriff’s car are green and white or brown. There
is no reason for the sheriff’s deputies to be driving around in patrol
vehicles with color scheme used for city police departments or looking
like they are in a Pepsi Cola advertisement.
10. Bonner County Sheriff’s
Office is not a metropolitan police department.
The
police departments within Bonner County are capable of providing good
law enforcement to their citizens. The sheriff’s office is there to
assist the city officers when requested, however the county has enough
going on and the deputies must provide a high level of service to those
citizens living in the county.
The
sheriff’s office has attempted to take away local law enforcement from
the smaller cities in Bonner County. This is an attempt at nothing more
than personal gain for the persons on the city’s department, i.e. better
wages and better opportunities. Any time a city turns their police
department over to the sheriff’s office in a county such as Bonner
County, the level of service will decline. There is just not enough
manpower to cover both the city and the county equally as it should be
and the city will come out with much less coverage than it should.
From the administration to all personnel under their command, everyone
will possess a very high standard of MORALS, ETHICS and INTEGRITY and
respect of the constitutional rights of all people. I guarantee it.
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My campaign manager is retired Undersheriff Nick Krager
(right). His counsel is appreciated not only on the campaign but on the
achievement of the following goals. Although final decisions are the
sheriff's to make, it is important to listen to those who have been there, those
currently there, and to the community who will be affected by changes in the
department. .JPG)
