Build for the future and development of employees!
- Not only does Union County need to be competitive with salaries and benefits, we need to have more training and personal development. 2023 was the first year that we had Active Shooter Training in a school building for our deputies. The once-a-year qualifications need to be expanded, we need to have more real-life training scenarios, especially in today's society where active shooters are more and more common. Our families and Union County must have the confidence in our deputies that when such an incident occurs that our deputies are trained and equipped to stop the aggressor as quickly and safely as possible.
- We must have additional staff members fully trained in specialty areas. We only have two deputies fully trained and assigned to major vehicle crash investigations. One is a detective and one is a command staff level member. The only drone operators within the office are command staff level employees. Our line level employees must be trained in these specialty areas, so precious time is not wasted during critical incidents waiting on command staff to arrive.
- A minimum staffing level of 3 per shift must be increased. Having a minimum of 3 deputies per shift for the entire county might have worked and been justified 10 or 12 years ago; however, with the increased growth of Union County this number needs increased. High risk calls such as a Domestic Violence, Mental Health, or any other offense of violence has a requirement of a two-deputy response. In these situations, it leaves one deputy to cover the entire county.
By increasing the number of deputies each shift, this will also eliminate the hundreds of hours of Mandatory Overtime that the staff is working each year. This is not only healthier for the individual deputy, but it will be healthier for them in their own personal life and relationships. We cannot afford to have our employees' demeanor and stress levels to affect the relationship with each and every citizen we come in contact with.
- I will continue to set the example for Collaboration and Teamwork with other agencies. There are many examples of this that are outlined in the "Proven Results" tab of this website. I further believe that I am the only candidate for Sheriff who can say that he has had a direct impact on many of the careers of other law enforcement command staff members and first line supervisors in Union County. The impact of careers not only include those in the Union County Sheriff's Office, but those within other agencies such as the Union County Coroner's Office, the Union County Prosecutor's Office, Marysville Fire Department and the Marysville Police Department.
