Election 2018: Your guide to the race for Washoe County sheriff

Note: The story has been changed to show that Allan Fox worked for the Douglas County District Attorney's Office.

Seven candidates are vying to become the region's next chief law enforcement officer after Sheriff Chuck Allen decided to forgo re-election this year.

All of them have experience working in law enforcement.

More: Limited number of free tickets available for Tuesday's Washoe sheriff candidate forum

Related: Here's your guide to the candidates for Washoe County School Board

Related: Crowded races shape up for Reno mayor, council seats and Washoe sheriff

The candidates include retired Capt. Heidi Howe, retired Sgt. Kim Meyer, retired Chief Deputy Darin Balaam, retired Lt. Adam Hopkins and retired First Sgt. Jerry Cossio, all of whom served in the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

Other candidates include retired Sparks Police Lt. Sherman Boxx, who came out of retirement to work at the sheriff’s office in 2015. That also includes former cold case homicide Det. Allan Fox, of the Reno Police Department.

Early voting for the June 12 primary begins on May 26. The top two candidates will face off in the Nov. 6 general election.

Below are the biographies of each candidate in alphabetical order. The information was provided by the candidates as part of the Reno Gazette Journal candidate questionnaire and were edited for clarity and length.

Darin Balaam

Age: 44

Education: Graduate of Edward C. Reed High School 1991; graduate of University of Nevada, Reno with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice; graduate of University of Louisville with a master’s degree in criminal justice administration

Law enforcement experience: I worked in the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office for 21.5 years under four sheriffs.

Occupation: Adjunct professor at Truckee Meadows Community College and Western Nevada College.

Elevator pitch: With the exception of my family, law enforcement is my next greatest passion. I’m raising a family in the Truckee Meadows, and like all the citizens living here, I want all of our families to be safe. I spent my entire career preparing for this moment. In fact, I began as a civilian property clerk before being promoted five times throughout my career at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (deputy, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and chief deputy). I have worked in all three areas of the sheriff’s office (operations, detention and administration). I commanded tactical teams such as SWAT, Hostage Team, Detention Response Team. In addition, I supervised various small teams (K-9 unit, motor unit, detectives, aviation unit, search and rescue and the Northern Nevada Regional Intelligence Center).

Family: I’ve been married to my wife, Heather, for almost 22 years. We have four children, two sons and two daughters.

Interesting tidbits: My wife and I both met at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office in 1995. Our twins were born at 28 weeks and both weighed a little over 2 pounds at birth.

Big idea: In 2017, the Washoe County Detention Facility housed an average of 1,087 inmates. A significant number of inmates needed mental health services. As sheriff, I intend to:

Expand medical assessment programs to ensure inmate needs are accurately identified.

Identify best outside resources and coordinate for treatment logistics.

Create a transport system for “soft hand-offs” upon inmate release.

Divert those suffering from mental illness into proven specialty-court programs.

According to the Nevada Department of Public Safety Crime in Nevada report, 2,030 children under the age of 18 witnessed domestic violence in Washoe County in 2016. As sheriff, I intend to develop:

Evidence-based programs that hold offenders accountable for their actions.

Partnerships with governmental agencies, legal system and community services to implement domestic violence prevention strategies.

Expanded regional victim advocacy programs.

In today’s technology-fueled world, our seniors are often overlooked and left vulnerable. As sheriff, I will:

Protect seniors by rooting out cybercrime.

Create educational programs to help seniors avoid abuse and victimization.

Build region-wide senior safety initiatives that connect seniors to a safety net of services.

Washoe County has quickly gained national attention as one of the most sought-after destinations for both small businesses and international corporations. We need to be prepared for Washoe County’s population growth that will follow. As sheriff, I will insist that we:

Develop a strong partnership with the faith-based community and non-governmental organizations to identify best practices in addressing community issues.

Join together police and citizens efforts in problem-solving centered on identifying effective strategies to address the causes of crime and disorder.

Expand educational programs for at risk youth.

First move as sheriff: I will analyze the current Washoe County Sheriff’s Office budget and re-prioritize and re-allocate the resources in a fiscally responsible manner to better protect the citizens in our community. From there, I will be able to devote the necessary funds to address mental health needs, reduce domestic violence, safeguard our seniors and integrate the sheriff’s office into the community.

Political experience: This is my first time running for any elected office.

How would you describe Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen’s tenure? Is there anything you would do differently?

Sheriff Allen has done a good job being involved in community events in Washoe County. As your next sheriff, I will continue that visibility in the community and I will strengthen the partnership with our citizens to confront our most critical challenges, such as mental health, domestic violence and senior fraud.

What do you think the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office policy should be on deportation? Should the sheriff’s office be more involved in helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain undocumented residents?

I will not engage in community immigration sweeps because that is the federal government’s responsibility. However, I will allow ICE to continue to operate within the detention facility to identify undocumented immigrants who have been arrested for a crime committed in Washoe County. As sheriff, I will honor federal warrants that are properly obtained for undocumented inmates. I welcome everyone into our community. However, if they commit a crime, it will be my responsibility and duty to take the appropriate law enforcement action against them.

How do you plan to address the increase in inmate deaths at the Washoe County Detention Center? What are your thoughts on how those issue has been handled so far?

I will first undertake an objective assessment of how the detention facility is managed and determine the best course of action utilizing a multi-faceted approach to staffing, training and mental health services.

I believe that one death is one too many and to have experienced 13 deaths since January 2015 is simply unacceptable. I will introduce effective solutions to better protect our inmates and the officers stationed at the Detention Facility.

Do you believe teachers should arm themselves? Should schools have more of a police presence?

I am devastated by these senseless tragedies. Our children deserve to feel safe in a place where they go to learn. I have school-aged children myself and the idea of them not being safe at school is something we need to change immediately.

No, teachers should concentrate on teaching our children. Security and defense are the responsibilities of the school police and other law enforcement agencies. I think there should be more officers present at each school to prevent school shootings like we have seen around the country. Safety for our children will be a top priority of mine as your next sheriff.

What do you think about the push for gun control?

The school shootings discussion shouldn’t solely focus on a weapons ban, but also on mental health. We need to identify people who have mental issues before they can acquire a weapon.

It seems like we’ve been hearing more about officer-involved shootings, not just nationwide, but in Washoe County, too. How should local law enforcement gain and maintain the public’s trust?

Our current regional officer involved shooting protocol is a model that other counties in the state mirror. However, the public doesn’t know much about the procedure or how it works. We need to change that. I would like to educate the community on the process of investigating officer involved shootings, so people know the lengths we go through to address officer involved shootings in order to prevent them.

I have a three-point plan: First, we must enhance and mandate situational awareness training for our officers, which is realistic training to prepare them for stressful incidents. Second, we will educate officers with Crisis Intervention Training, so they rely on verbal skills to de-escalate violent situations before needing to use a weapon in defense. Third, I will provide citizen academies to educate the community on law enforcement policies and procedures.

President Donald Trump has been talking about harsher punishment such as implementing the death penalty for those involved in drug trafficking. Reno is often considered as a transient town. Do you believe Washoe County has a drug trafficking problem? Should there be harsher punishment for drug crimes?

Washoe County is designated by the United States Office of Drug Control Policy as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area because of our proximity to I-80. Therefore, Washoe County does have a problem with drug trafficking. In my opinion, the current laws pertaining to drug trafficking are reasonable and will enforce them when in office.

Sherman Boxx

Age: 62

Education: I've attended several classes at TMCC and UNR including the Supervisory Management Certificate program, however I have no degree.

Law enforcement experience: I worked for the Sparks Police Department for 26 years and for the Washoe County Sheriff's Office for nearly two years.

Occupation: Retired

Elevator pitch: I've worked in law enforcement for many years. This is a very important job and needs a serious leader.

Family: I'm married and have two adult children and six grandchildren.

Interesting tidbits: I’ve been in policing all of my life. I started when I was young with the Sparks Police Department. I was there for 26 years. I never wanted to do anything else. I never did. Everybody in my family is the automotive business. That’s a path I could have taken, but I didn’t choose that path. I chose the path of public service, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. And I think I still have a lot to give, and I think I should be the next sheriff because of it.

Big idea: I would like to revitalize community policing, increase rationalizing policing throughout the valley, enhance communications making it easier for residents to contact the sheriff while letting them know we want to help them.

First move as sheriff: I would evaluate staffing and where we could improve safety and service with current staffing.

Political experience: I have never run for office.

How would you describe Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen’s tenure? Is there anything you would do differently?

I don’t want to criticize Sheriff Chuck Allen. I thought he was doing just fine. I happen to like Chuck and I respect him, and I think he’s doing the best he can. I think he’s done the best he can with what he had.

One of my priorities is revitalizing the community policing policy. The state POST (Nevada Commission on Peace Officer Standard and Training), it’s a commission that dictates how every law enforcement officer trains. It involves a physical fitness test and a background investigation, among other things. All the local agencies, everybody does it the same. We have five tests, and they’re doing it separately. We’re spending manpower when we can regionalize that entire process. Imagine the man hours we can save if we do it all together once a quarter. We also should regionalize the background investigations.

I also think there’s a communication glitch between the rural counties that needs to be fixed. I would like to improve that process. I want people to know it’s OK to ask for services. We’re here to help you, and we want to. It’s OK to call 911 in an emergency situation. But in a non-emergency situation, there’s a problem with communication, and I want to fix that. Those are things I want to do that maybe they’re not being done.

What do you think the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office policy should be on deportation? Should the sheriff’s office be more involved in helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain undocumented residents?

The only job the sheriff has is to house their prisoners. They pay a fee, it’s less than the cost of housing them, but it’s a fee nonetheless. The sheriff’s job is pretty clear, its housing those folks. One of the questions you’re asked during the intake process is where were you were born, and if you were born other than the United States, they’ll know about it. I don’t see that changing.

I’m going to work on bettering the relationship with ICE. I believe undocumented people who aren’t criminals, don’t want violent criminals in their neighborhoods either. Whether they’re documented or undocumented, that’s an issue for ICE.

How do you plan to address the increase in inmate deaths at the Washoe County Detention Center? What are your thoughts on how those issue has been handled so far?

I think there’s been changes already. First off, training is essential on excited delirium. What’s happened since the RGJ put the article out, things have changed already. The first thing they do is see a medical professional. They take their vitals, and if they catch something wrong, they’ll be sent to the hospital. That’s been an improvement in itself.

A lot of issues are mental health-related. If treatment is needed instead of incarceration, we want that every time. If treatment is a better solution, I would like to develop a whole network of resources. The jail already started that. So, there’s a better relationship with local organizations already.

I think a lot of the dynamics in the community have changed like the potency of drugs and the increasing drug use. This excited delirium is a real killer. Since the nurse started seeing everybody and everything has change, there have been no deaths. Clearly, something has improved. The officers are recognizing when something is wrong.

Do you believe teachers should arm themselves? Should schools have more of a police presence?

I don’t think teachers should be forced or compelled to be armed. Most teachers have a kind personality and are more interested in teaching their students. I don’t think we should tell people where they can or can’t carry if they’ve gone through the training. I don’t think it’s our responsibility to arm teachers if they don’t want to be armed. But if teachers want to go through the concealed carry training and protect themselves, then they should be allowed to do that.

I’m just saying as the government, if teachers have gone through the concealed carry training and they want to carry to protect their students, we shouldn’t be telling them they can’t.

What do you think about the push for gun control?

I’m a Second Amendment guy. I think we should follow the Constitution. I don’t think gun control is the answer for school shootings. I think we should train our students to recognize warning signs in other students. I bet you most students in that school shootings knew that the shooter had experiences some kind of trouble. They should be able to tell their teachers when one of their peers is in trouble.

People talk about assault weapons and those are just military-style weapons. I don’t own one of those. I don’t know what the passion is for owning one of those, but the Second Amendment allows people to own them, and I think we should follow the Constitution.

It seems like we’ve been hearing more about officer-involved shootings, not just nationwide, but in Washoe County, too. How should local law enforcement gain and maintain the public’s trust?

I think we have the public’s trust in this community already. Law enforcement has a good working relationship with the community. We have transparency. And the community is involved, and they should be involved because we swerve them. Sheriff Allen had a green ribbon panel, and people were involved in it. It was a place where you could have input on where you think the agency should go. It could only be improved upon.

Officer involved shootings occur based on the conduct of the defendant. Officers are preparing for that in training. I think there should be situational awareness training. It puts people into a scenario based training where they decide to either take a human life or they decide not to. I think it’s essential, and it’s working very well.

Nowadays, everything is available with technology. I think a lot of the focus is on (law enforcement) because information is so instantons these days. I think we’re doing a good job. I think training is going to continue to improve with new technologies.

There’s a candidate who believes the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office should pull out of the officer involved shooting protocol, and that’s just crazy. The officer involved shooting protocol was designed so no one is investigating themselves, and it helps keep things transparent. I’ve only seen one time that it worked and it wasn’t very because every agency was involved in the shooting. It’s something you never anticipate when all the local agencies are involved in a shooting.

But I think the protocol works quite well in my opinion. I think its exceptional. It involves transparency so everyone can be kept in the loop.

President Donald Trump has been talking about harsher punishment such as implementing the death penalty for those involved in drug trafficking. Reno is often considered as a transient town. Do you believe Washoe County has a drug trafficking problem? Should there be harsher punishment for drug crimes?

I think punishment is punishment. I’m not sure the death penalty would be a deterrent. I believe there is an issue in drug trafficking. There are certainly always better things you can do. But it costs us more resources. In a time where we’re struggling with resources, we’re doing all we can. The county has a team that works with the All Threats All Crimes Unit and they do low level drug investigations. We’re doing all we can to combat that, but we can always do more.

I believe when the death penalty was originated, it was meant as a deterrent for serious crimes. But when you look at the death penalty, it’s hardly ever imposed. People will fight tooth and nail to prevent someone from being killed. Even states that do it frequently have cut back. I think the death penalty is and should be a deterrent, but I’m not sure it should be a deterrent for drug crimes.

Jerry Cossio

Age: 54

Education: I attended high school and earned my GED, and took the trade school route. I’ve spent four-and-a-half years training to become an electrician. I was able to get an electrical contract in California. I’m also a certified as a business owner. I took the state test for finance and business management.

Law enforcement experience: I have a little over 20 years of experience in Washoe County. I started in 1995 and retired as first sergeant in 2015 (from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office). I was promoted to the front offices, and I was part of Sheriff Chuck Allen’s executive staff. I reported directly to Chuck Allen as a liaison for the community. I was responsible for all staff, both deputies and civilian staff members.

Occupation: I’m retired, but I work in fundraising for local groups. I raise money to promote college education for one of the groups. We also raise money for a couple of hospitals, one in Sacramento and one in Utah.

Elevator pitch: A lot of people had reached out to me, and they were not happy with the ways things have progressed under past administrations. I want to bring the sheriff’s office back into the forefront of law enforcement. Before, we used to be the premier law enforcement agency. We used to have people from all over the world come tour our facility to see how we would how we would run the jail as a direct supervision jail. I want to bring that back.

Family: I’m married. My second marriage has lasted for seven years. I have four kids from my first marriage: three boys and a girl. The oldest is 31 years old. My second boy is 30, and my third son is 27. My daughter is the youngest, and she’s 22. My two middle sons work for a local law enforcement agency in the Reno area. My daughter graduated from the nursing school at TMCC (Truckee Meadows Community College). My oldest son works in advertising.

Interesting tidbits: I’ve had ties with the Hispanic community for over 20 years. If any of the groups need help, if they call me, I’m there to assist them. They can utilize me in different things, especially with what’s going on in immigration and the way law enforcement path has changed.

Big idea: My biggest issue is getting the community back in touch with law enforcement. Right now, I feel we’re so divided. For instance, when I was a kid, my dad would say if you ever need help, go to the cops. There’s a perception that not all cops are good. I want to get rid of that and bring the community back together with law enforcement so we can trust one another.

First move as sheriff: The first thing I would want to tackle is that very same thing (gaining public trust). I want to provide the equipment and tools that the staff need to do their jobs properly so we can better serve the community. There’s a whole gamut of issues that are ongoing like the deaths at the jail and mental health system that I would like to tackle.

Political experience: I have no political experience. But I was president of the National Latino Peace Officers Association (for the Nevada chapter) a few years back. I was president of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Supervisory Deputies Association for two years, and the ranks for that were from sergeant all the way up to captain.

How would you describe Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen’s tenure? Is there anything you would do differently?

I would make sure they (deputies and staff at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office) would have a direction and a purpose, which they don’t seem to have right now. I want to give them the tools, equipment and training to achieve that direction.

What do you think the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office policy shold be on deportation? Should the sheriff’s office be more involved in helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain undocumented residents?

If I were sheriff, we would not act as agents for ICE. If there was an issue where they needed us to keep people safe, that’s a different issue. If someone gets arrested, it really doesn’t mean anything to us if they’re documented or undocumented. We do house a lot of people who are undocumented, but that’s all we do. We supervise them. That’s ICE’s position, that’s what they’re there for. We’re not going to run to ICE and say, ‘Hey, we have an illegal person we just arrested or brought into the facility.’ Unless the president or the governor say otherwise, that’s not going to change.

How do you plan to address the increase in inmate deaths at the Washoe County Detention Center? What are your thoughts on how those issue has been handled so far?

There have been way too many jail deaths, and a lot of it comes with training. If the deputies don’t have the proper training on how to treat somebody, then that’s a key factor. We don’t know what’s happened to (the inmates) outside of the jail. We’ll get a brief description of why they were arrested … but often times we don’t know the history of the individual coming in to the jail. But there are telltale signs that you can see in the person’s behavior or body language … that you can pick up on. If we have trained personnel, then they can catch those issues that need to be addressed to avoid an increase in jail deaths.

Do you believe teachers should arm themselves? Should schools have more of a police presence?

Not everything is 100 percent preventable, but I have a plan to address this. One of the big issues is we’re missing a piece of the puzzle: objective, measurable, observables (training method). I would bring a staff to train the deputies at the sheriff’s office. I’d train with community leaders, school officials, medical staff, whomever wants to partake in it.

This system of training measures the way people behave. You’re able to measure and see the way people behave, their actions and reactions. We all have to speak the same language.

If the sheriff’s office ever had the opportunity to take over school police, integrate with school police or consolidate with other agencies, we would have a bigger pool to pull from. Yes, there should be more police presence at schools.

I’m not opposed to arming certain teachers, but not all teacher. I would want them to go through a rigorous background and firearm training course. I know not all teacher will pass the rigorous training. We could get more volunteers, especially ex-military personnel, to work at schools and volunteer their time at the schools.

What do you think about the push for gun control?

I am a second amendment supporter. With that said, as long as everybody abides by and is qualified and trained to carry, that’s OK. I don’t think changing our law from what they are now and taking guns away from good people, things will change. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Training would keep shootings from happening.

It seems like we’ve been hearing more about officer-involved shootings, not just nationwide, but in Washoe County, too. How should local law enforcement gain and maintain the public’s trust?

It comes down to training. I believe in whole heart that the training I want to implement will help reduce the number of officer involved shooting. You’re not going to prevent it. There’s not a training program out there that’s going to keep this from happening, but we can surely reduce it.

This training I want to provide, (deputies) will see the difference between someone who is going to shoot versus someone who is just distraught. We can go up the (shooting) range every single day and train on active shootings. You can stand there and shoot all day long, but if you don’t know what you’re looking for then it’s pointless.

It’s also about being transparent. All the officer shootings that have occurred here locally, they were all good shootings according to the district attorney and the law enforcement agencies that see these shootings occur. But the community doesn’t see it that way. We all have to speak the same language and use the same terms so we all understand each other. You have a split second to decide whether you’re going to pull the trigger or not.

As a leader, I would take full responsibility for my deputies. If one of my deputies does something wrong, I’m going to step up to the plate. We need to implement other policies and procedures to keep things from happening. I was part of the Detention Response Team (for the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office) from 1997 to 2015. I was the longest acting supervisor on that team. When I commit to something, I fully commit to it.

President Donald Trump has been talking about harsher punishment such as implementing the death penalty for those involved in drug trafficking. Reno is often considered as a transient town. Do you believe Washoe County has a drug trafficking problem? Should there be harsher punishment for drug crimes?

It is a transient town. It’s a 24-hour community. People don’t stay here very long. You do get a lot of traffic going here, and I-80 is one of the biggest corridors for drug trafficking. But I don’t think we need the death penalty for drug traffickers. We have regional teams that do very good busts. I say we continue to capitalize on that because they’re doing good work. That’s up to state or federal or the district attorney, along with the judge, on whether drug crimes need harsher punishment. They’re the ones who go after people who commit these crimes. In my personal opinion, I don’t think we need the death penalty for people selling drugs.

Allan Fox

Age: 58

Education: I studied at Truckee Meadows Community College and at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Law enforcement experience: I was a trooper in the U.S. Army, and I was hired by the Napa County Sheriff’s Office in California. I worked there for four years as patrolman and deputy coroner. And then I worked on the narcotics task force. When I came to Reno, I worked patrol. I also worked as a detective for the child abuse and sex crimes unit, and I worked on the gang unit. I also worked in the bicycle patrol team for two years, and I went back to robbery and homicide.

For two years, I worked mostly cold cases. I was the lead detective in the re-investigation of Michelle Mitchell’s murder. I spent 31 years in law enforcement.

Occupation: The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office hired me to do investigations during my first year of retirement.

Elevator pitch: I would like to see law enforcement be better represented. I would like to be a good conduit between the public and law enforcement. We don’t explain to a lot of people what we see or deal with. And a lot of times they don’t know what we know. I’d like to be a good ambassador. I don’t want to sound like a politician, but I want to see everybody treat each other with dignity. When dignity breaks down, the communication stops.

Family: I’m married with three kids. My youngest son just got out of the U.S. Navy and is attending UNR. My daughter earned a master’s degree in psychology from Boston College. She’s working on getting her Ph.D. at UNR. Her husband is finishing his third year in medical school at UNR. And I just had my first grandchild a few weeks ago.

Interesting tidbits: I just believe in the philosophy that leaders eat last. It’s a metaphor that means you take care of everyone else before you take care of yourself. I love a challenge. When I retired, I built a wooden kayak and kayaked from Washington to Alaska.

Big idea: I would really like to explore consolidation. And also staffing in the jail, from what I’m hearing, creates a very stressful environment for deputies. We either pay now or pay later, and if you pay later it could cost more. If you have enough people at the jail, then you can pull people out for training. I also believe in team management. We need to give everybody input. If you want something done, you need to connect with the officers at the community level.

First move as sheriff: The first thing I have to do is go after my weaknesses. I’m not very familiar with the budget or county commission. I’m not very familiar with the jail procedure, but I’m going to surround myself by the right people.

I’ve noticed (health) contractors aren’t really fulfilling their contracts. Everybody has to hold up their end of the bargain. That’s something that has come out that may be a problem. I’m going to have people look into everything. I know how to pick those people.

Political experience: None

How would you describe Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen’s tenure? Is there anything you would do differently?

The jail deaths concern me, but I don’t know that it’s Sheriff Chuck Allen’s fault. Anyone who’s in law enforcement know some things go wrong. We need a thorough investigation and have an advisory board take a look at it. Everything has to be investigated and you have turn over every rock. What I would do is go back and look at every investigation on jail deaths and see what we can do. We should have had a couple of on call psychologists and/or doctors who can come in for a few hours a day. We have to decide which facilities inmates with addictions or mental health problems need to be in. It costs more to keep them in jail. I would think it’s high risk for them, but I would have to do some more research.

Our job is not only to protect people from other people, but we have to do everything we can to protect someone from themselves. That’s our job. It’s all about truth and protection.

We also need to ensure that people like veterans who come in through the inmate intake are getting the assistance they need, especially if they're receiving assistance from other agencies. We need to make sure they get what's available to them.

What do you think the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office policy should be on deportation? Should the sheriff’s office be more involved in helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain undocumented residents?

It should remain the way it is now. The sheriff’s office, from what I understand, won’t go out and look for anybody who is illegally here. I have no problem with ICE coming in and taking away the violent people. We’re talking about violent crimes.

When they do the crime, they’re the ones who put their family at risk. They’re the ones that got themselves there (in jail). They knew they were undocumented and they knew they were putting themselves at risk.

Reno is growing now and we’re going to have to deal with that. The population is growing, and we’re barely keeping up with the number of law enforcement officers we need. I’m going to fight, fight, fight to get the manpower up to where it should be.

How do you plan to address the increase in inmate deaths at the Washoe County Detention Center? What are your thoughts on how those issue has been handled so far?

I don’t have much jail experience. So, I’ll have to get with the people who do know. I can’t make any promises that it’s going to stop because I don’t know all of the factors involved. I would have to investigate more. Not only would I look at it, but I would have somebody else look at it. I feel like I’m a nosey S.O.B. when I get assigned to something because of my experience as a detective.

We also have to look at the trends outside the jail. We need to consider if there's an influx of drugs that coincide with the deaths in the jail. Do we have an increase of suicide in the community? We need to look all of those things.

Do you believe teachers should arm themselves? Should schools have more of a police presence?

I would tell anybody, if you want to survive violence, get away from it. I do believe in a single-point entry. I taught my kids when they were in school, if you hear a shooting and you find a window, get out through the window and run home. I’d rather pick them up on the street than in a body bag. But that’s not going to be up to me. It’s a divisive issue. Police officers train every three months to shoot, and that’s barely enough. It would take a full summer to train a teacher and then they would have to train again about every two months. They would have to come in and do live fire and go through drills. The question is, are (the teachers) entitled to the same public benefits that the police or firemen are entitled to? That’s going to cost money.

Once you know people have been shot, you have to go in (as an officer). I think about the families who would have gladly gone in without a gun to protect their kids. That has to be addressed (with more police presence on campuses).

What do you think about the push for gun control?

I believe in rights, and I believe in responsibilities. I have guns. I grew up with guns. I never accidentally fired my gun when I didn’t mean to. As a community, we have a responsibility to do background checks. I think they need to be more thorough. If I’m sheriff, and someone with a CCW enters a school, and they do something irresponsible with a gun, that CCW will go away.

I’ve never seen a crime committed by a person with a CCW. To get a CCW you have to go through the training and go through the background checks. I think background checks work really well when they’re done properly.

It seems like we’ve been hearing more about officer-involved shootings, not just nationwide, but in Washoe County, too. How should local law enforcement gain and maintain the public’s trust?

We do training on how to deal with serious situations. But we’re not doing training on how to deal with feelings of fear or anger. I would like to have people take another half second, to look at the situation before using force. To me, it comes to manpower. You also have to be aware, when there’s one officer involved shooting, we have to sit down and have these casual conversations. We have to be honest with ourselves. You can’t discern if it’s anxiety amped up because one officer shot someone or the officer got shot at.

The more shootings that the officer has knowledge about, the more they understand about what they’re going to do.

President Donald Trump has been talking about harsher punishment such as implementing the death penalty for those involved in drug trafficking. Reno is often considered as a transient town. Do you believe Washoe County has a drug trafficking problem? Should there be harsher punishment for drug crimes?

You shouldn’t send somebody to death when they didn’t kill somebody. I just think that being on death row is enough punishment. Unless you took another life, the death penalty, I just don’t believe in it. That’s just a personal code. I think some people are going to say they (drug traffickers) were indirectly responsible for a lot of people's death. Even if they were charged for it, it would still be manslaughter and wouldn't meet the criterias in a death penalty case. I'm for the death penalty only in the extreme circumstances. Every community has a drug problem, whether it's on the level of prescription drugs or the drugs made in illegal labs somewhere. Now there's more attention on prescription drugs. As long as we have people in our community, we're going to have a drug problem. There's no easy way around it. We legalized marijuana and less people will go to jail for it. But I know most of child neglect cases I worked, there was always a presence of marijuana in the household. It's just a bad deal all the way around whether we legalized it or not. It's still here, and we have to deal with it.

Adam Hopkins

Age: 55

Education: I have a bachelor’s degree of science in education with a minor in speech from New Mexico State University. I also attended Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) and the National Jail Leadership Command Academy. I’m a certified jail manager, and I am currently a DOJ (Department of Justice) certified auditor.

Law enforcement experience: I spent 25 years at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. I did half of my career on the operation side of the sheriff’s office and the other half on the detention side. I rose up the ranks and ran the jail.

Occupation: I audit jails. I have a training company that I run where I train on high liability topics for law enforcement all over the country. I train on excited delirium. I am a leader in the (Reno Host Lions Club). I’m on the executive board of the National Alliance of Mental Illness for the state of Nevada.

Elevator pitch: Law enforcement both nationally and locally are experiencing issues that I believe must be fixed to keep the integrity of the profession and to save lives in the meantime. I felt that knowing that, I couldn’t sit back and not take part in the process. I have the unique skill sets to deal with these issues.

Family: I’ve been married to my wife for 36 years. We have three grown children, and I have 10 grandchildren.

Interesting tidbits: There was a part written for me in a play by Mark Medoff, who wrote “Children of a Lesser God.” The name of the play I was offered a part in was called “The Hands of Its Enemies.” Richard Dreyfuss got the part. I was 23 years old.

I also sung the national anthem at three (Reno Aces) games and one (Reno Bighorns) game. I recently won an award from the Lions Club International – the Special Presidential Leadership Award, which is only given out to 1,250 people every year around the world. It was in recognition of distinct leadership.

Big idea: The biggest one is transparency. I want to create a (citizen) review board and pull out of the (Washoe County Regional Officer Involved Shooting Protocol). I want to start a program with the sheriff’s office much like a treatment center. I’ll use the Crossroads Program as an example. These people who come in have a drug addiction or suffer from mental health problems, and we do virtually nothing for them.

We’ll get them started on the process in the jail if they want help, and we won’t lose any time. The issue is how do you pay for that? I say we partner with local entities. We bring people in from the community. I think people who came out of something like a drug addiction can help others who are going through it.

First move as sheriff: Realistically you don’t go into it and change things right away. There are some things I would change immediately that would promote transparency. I would take our policies and put them on the Internet. I am a huge proponent of civil leadership. I would immediately start a different management style from what I have seen. I would be present at the sheriff’s office more.

Political experience: None

How would you describe Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen’s tenure? Is there anything you would do differently?

I believe the legacy he’s leaving is one of community involvement. I keep hearing that he’s doing a good job at reaching out to the community. The community is afraid that the next sheriff won’t be as open and community-oriented. I’m going to be as open as I can be. I’m a fan of the idea of having citizen review boards. I want the press to feel completely welcomed because I will have nothing to hide. I believe the way we do training now is completely inadequate in most areas. We’ve had to cut back on training hours, and the way we train is wrong. It’s not effective.

What do you think the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office policy should be on deportation? Should the sheriff’s office be more involved in helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain undocumented residents?

I don’t think that we should take more of an active role than we currently do. I don’t see us going door to door. ICE has agents who are literally sitting in our booking lobby. When a person comes in and they don’t have identification, they get the information. If it’s determined that they are undocumented, it is ICE’s choice to detain them. If they decide not to do anything, then they’re released. The ball is really on their court. We provide a location for ICE detainees in the jail. I don’t see that changing.

How do you plan to address the increase in inmate deaths at the Washoe County Detention Center? What are your thoughts on how the issue has been handled so far?

Not all of the deaths were associated with excited delirium, obviously. Many were associated with suicide. We have done away with suicide prevention training based on budget cuts. It’s my understanding they brought it back at some level. We need to be identifying those within that population that have a higher risk of suicide attempts. We need to train on that. The medical staff at our intake area need to be aware and fully trained to deal with these people. I have to make sure our medical vender is doing everything right.

I have transitioned three medical providers. I know exactly what I should be looking for and what needs to be done. I’d like to focus on types of training and the methodology of training. We have a system called direct supervision. The direct supervision model allows for the deputy to be immersed in the culture of the housing unit. What that allows you to do is key to identifying the subtlest changes in an inmate’s behavior. We’ve cut back on staff so much because of budget cuts that that is not happening. (The sheriff’s office) is trying to bring back that model, as they should.

Do you believe teachers should arm themselves? Should schools have more of a police presence?

The answer to that is yes to be both. I believe we should have police presence at schools. We should have single points of entry, metal detectors, enhanced searches of the lockers. I believe we should be arming teachers (who want to be armed).

I believe there has to be an enhanced background check. They should go through training to carry a concealed weapon. I would never condone a teacher or armed staff going out hunting for a school shooter. We have to provide them the tools to lock the doors. We have to have an enhanced ability to determine who may be prone to causing violence, whether it’s a student or staff member. The citizens have to be confident that when someone says something, something will be done.

What do you think about the push for gun control?

I am fully in support of enhanced background checks. I have no problem with that. It doesn’t matter to me whether we ban bump stocks or not because you can create the same action without using any enhancement. If someone wants that, they can do it without a bump stock. I believe there are very, very few situations where a citizen would have an automatic weapon unless you’re in the military.

It seems like we’ve been hearing more about officer-involved shootings, not just nationwide, but in Washoe County, too. How should local law enforcement gain and maintain the public’s trust?

We have to train correctly. We need to give these officers the tools to de-escalate situations before they have to use force. You only want it to happen when you try everything else, or if the situation dictates (use of force) immediately. We are facing such a crisis in law enforcement of mistrust, and there’s a lack of integrity in the system. I have a problem with our officer involved shooting protocol. What matters is what the community thinks. The community thinks it smells fishy. It has the appearance of impropriety because we’re investigating our own.

I’m for pulling out of the shooting protocol and have an outside agency investigate. My job is to make sure the integrity of the process is maintained. I really think we need to have citizen involvement in our policies. I think there’s a place for them on a use of force board. We have become a very, very secret society. That makes people think we’re hiding something.

President Donald Trump has been talking about harsher punishment such as implementing the death penalty for those involved in drug trafficking. Reno is often considered as a transient town. Do you believe Washoe County has a drug trafficking problem? Should there be harsher punishment for drug crimes?I believe we do have a drug trafficking problem because of where we’re located. We have Sacramento to our west and Las Vegas to our south, so they have to come through here. I think there should be tougher penalties on drug traffickers because of the havoc they wreak on people’s lives. I think (drug crimes) warrant a harsher punishment. I think where our focus needs to lie is helping people who are victims of that industry. We need to provide them the help they need so they can become productive members of society. We have to stop the trafficking, no doubt, because it’s just going to continue. But we also have people addicted to drugs or alcohol. I think we should lower (jail) time for people who are addicted to drugs because they shouldn’t be there, and fill it with these drug traffickers.

Heidi Howe

Age: 53

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia Southern University; Administrative Officer’s Course from Southern Police Institute in Louisville, Ky.; Senior Management Institute for Police from Boston, Mass.; Certified Jail Manager and Life Member from American Jail Association; National Jail Leadership Command Academy from American Jail Association; National Instructor from American Jail Association; SWAT Command and Decision Making from National Tactical Officers Association

Law enforcement experience: I began my law enforcement career in 1988 with the Reno Police Department as a reserve and career officer and made the move to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) in 1991. I am currently a retired captain from the WCSO with 26 years of experience — 20 of those years as a sergeant, lieutenant, and finally retiring as a captain in 2017.

Occupation: I hit the ground running in April of 2017, focusing on my run for sheriff of Washoe County.

Elevator pitch: Plain and simple, I am the most qualified and experienced administrative leader in the race for sheriff. While in my 26 years with the department, I managed a team of 350 law enforcement officers and civilians; oversaw a $56 million budget; supervised custody of more than 1,300 adult detainees; and lead a $20 million jail expansion from breaking ground to ribbon cutting. I’m innovative, collaborative and understanding of our needs for the future, including unique initiatives to treat substance use disorders in the jail; adjusting to the growth of our city; and keeping our spending local and regional special victims units and programs for seniors, veterans and victims of sex trafficking.

I believe how you treat people matters. Whether you’re a citizen, an offender or the hard-working men and women of law enforcement, you’re expected to be treated with respect. We all remember a time when we made a mistake. We also remember those who held us accountable and showed compassion. I believe in being firm and fair, while demonstrating common decency and humanity.

Nevada-rooted, I’ve committed my life to protecting and serving our community.

Get to know Howe. Then make your decision on who should be our next Sheriff.

Family: I’ve lived in Nevada since I was 13 years old. I attended Hug High School where I met my husband, Bill. We will be celebrating our 33rd anniversary this year. We love our home in the North Valleys, living next-door to my wonderful in-laws. I am a proud aunt of four nephews and four great nieces and nephews.

Interesting tidbits: I am a proud Rotarian and active board member of the Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada. One of my favorite hobbies is researching family genealogy (when I have the time).

Big idea:

Prepare the agency for the growth of our community: In 16 years, our community has grown by 100,000 people. While we have expanded the number of Reno police officers, the number of sheriff deputies has dropped from 438 in 2008 to 407 in 2016. We need to prepare for our future, ensuring our public safety.

Address opiate and substance use disorders: Nevada is fourth in the nation for drug overdoses. Eighty percent of people who commit crimes do drugs. Sixty to 80 percent of inmates with substance use disorders commit a new crime after they’re released back to the community. I will initiate a unique program that will actually save money, save lives and help to stop repeat offenders. Treatment can be started in the jail, with a “warm hand-off” to local providers who can continue the process in the community. Between local non-profits, local providers and others, we can start this process without asking for additional funding.

Keep our taxpayer dollars local: Find innovative and collaborative ways to work with nonprofits and local providers to improve outcomes, save money and reduce recidivism by working together, investing in the success of our community.

Special Victim Units and Programs: To address crimes against seniors, create veterans’ units in the jail and assist those victimized by sex trafficking.

First move as sheriff: Take an executive level, global look at the whole organization to ensure we have the right people in the right places doing tasks required of the agency by law. Once I have a solid idea of where the agency is now, we can prepare for our future.

Political experience: No local experience in running for office. I ran for a board of director position for the American Jail Association, a national organization representing jails across the country. I was successful and served from 2014-2017.

How would you describe Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen’s tenure? Is there anything you would do differently?

Sheriff Allen had a large learning curve. His first selections for executive staff changed three times in the first 18 months. Only one of his current executive staff was there during the transition. This created instability, and a continual learning curve for those selected. It’s the responsibility of a leader to educate themselves and select the best people to be part of their team.

Additionally, I believe in extreme ownership. No matter what happens in the agency, the buck stops with the sheriff. The sheriff, and those who work for them, is a public servant. This means we work for you, the citizens. I have faith in the public. They know the job of law enforcement is difficult. However, they also expect transparency when something goes wrong. I am dedicated to providing transparency.

Our community is growing, and we need to be ready. We need a leader who understands the complexity, responsibility and difficulty of running the office, while being innovative to tackle issues like substance use disorders, mental health, the victimization of our aging population and the large number of veterans caught in the criminal justice system. I have the experience, passion, and vision to make it happen.

What do you think the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office policy should be on deportation? Should the sheriff’s office be more involved in helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain undocumented residents?

As per policy, the detention of an undocumented immigrant by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) should be based upon the reasonable belief that an individual is involved in criminal activity. The primary concern of the WCSO is the detection of criminal behavior.

The WCSO allows ICE to conduct interviews of individuals arrested for violations of state or local law, currently in custody at the Washoe County jail. This is a regional jail, housing for over 30 different agencies.

Federal law prohibits policies that impede cooperation between federal, state and local officials when it comes to sending, requesting, maintaining or exchanging information on immigration status. The WCSO provides a daily report, listing all individuals in custody who are foreign-born. ICE choses which individuals to interview. Once an inmate’s local charges are satisfied, the WCSO will only retain with a warrant. If ICE does not provide a warrant, the individual will be released from custody.

Additional questions have been asked regarding the WCSO’s involvement in the 287G Program. For those who do not know about the program, it is where local law enforcement enters into a memorandum of understanding with ICE, becoming deputized to enforce immigration law. The WCSO does not participate in this program, nor would I as sheriff. Considering the WCSO has fewer deputies now than we did in 2001 due to budget cuts, we need to focus on local crime and public safety.

How do you plan to address the increase in inmate deaths at the Washoe County Detention Center? What are your thoughts on how those issue has been handled so far?

The sheriff’s office, along with our entire community, was impacted by the economic downturn. Staffing was reduced, with a large portion of that reduction coming from the Detention Bureau. The sheriff’s office went from a total commissioned staff of 438 in 2008, to 407 in 2016, all while our community continues to grow. Additionally, the training budget was cut.

For cost savings, courses, which used to be conducted in person, were moved to video platforms. Scenario-based training was reduced, which had an impact on evaluating the performance of staff in stressful situations. We need more in-person, scenario-based training.

I am currently in contact with subject matter experts, community stakeholders, trainers, and dedicated providers, gathering ideas and support to work together.

Some of those best practices include:

Improve, increase and invest in scenario-based training for all staff that comes into contact with individuals struggling with mental health, behavioral health, and substance use disorders.

Creation of a task force to immediately address the safety and care of those in custody, implementing best practices from subject matter experts.

Re-evaluating the agency’s practice of hiring for-profit vendors from outside the state for medical and mental health care.

Utilizing more local medical providers for better continuity of care.

Begin substance abuse treatment programs while individuals are in custody, connecting those in the program to local providers and resources in the community upon release.

Exploring the inclusion of citizens on boards to review significant uses of force and deaths in custody.

Solutions must be evidence-based. Progress reports would be provided to the community, ensuring transparency and continued dedication to keeping our citizens safe.

Do you believe teachers should arm themselves? Should schools have more of a police presence?

No, I do not (believe teachers should be armed). Many citizens do not know the Washoe County School Police have primary jurisdiction over the schools. Active shooters continue to attack schools, in spite of police presence. I know our school police are working diligently to improve the safety of our schools with discussions on, and implementation of, single-points of entry, school design, and education regarding the treatment and bullying of children in schools.

The Sheriff’s office, and all other local law enforcement agencies, is there to assist at all times. The sheriff’s office trains with school police to be prepared in the event that such a tragedy could impact our community.

What do you think about the push for gun control?

Law enforcement officers are often called to reports of family disturbances, many fueled by substance use/abuse, mental and behavioral health situations, or a combination.

In 2007, Nevada law changed providing more options for victims of domestic violence. The law allowed the courts to temporarily remove weapons as a condition of extended orders of protection. States that restrict access to firearms by a person subject to a domestic violence restraining order are associated with a significant reduction in intimate partner homicides, with one study showing a 25 percent decrease of these homicides committed with a firearm (Zeoli & Webster, 2010).

The NRA recently came out to support what are commonly known as "red flag" or "high risk protection orders." This is a due process method of removing weapons, temporarily, from those in crisis. Family, friends or law enforcement would have the ability to place weapons into safe keeping while the individual stabilizes. If a law like this had been in place in Florida for the Parkland shooter, it would have provided a tool for law enforcement to keep the community safer. Florida recently approved a red flag law (after the shooting), joining five other states. There are 22 others considering these types of laws. As of May 17, 2018, four more states have passed “red flag” laws.

During the last legislative session, our state brought forward SB387. The intent was to introduce protection orders for individuals deemed to be “high risk” by the court. Although there were productive conversations … the bill did not move forward. … I see this as a missed opportunity.

As a candidate for Sheriff of Washoe County, I don’t want to be the person to tell the family and friends of loved ones they’ve lost how there was nothing law enforcement could have done to stop the violence.

It seems like we’ve been hearing more about officer-involved shootings, not just nationwide, but in Washoe County, too. How should local law enforcement gain and maintain the public’s trust?

We need to trust our citizens, communicating not only what happens, but also working together on how we are going to correct problems when they arise.

Next, agencies need to ensure proper training. Law enforcement tends to focus their training on what is referred to as “hard skills”. Hard skills are things like range training, how to use a taser, defensive tactics, etc. However, the daily demands of the job require more “soft skills”, such as communication and de-escalation techniques. Although Nevada law specifies how many hours a deputy has to qualify with their weapon at the range, there are no specific requirements for many of the soft skills. When budgets are cuts, the soft skills suffer. We cannot afford this. Our new officers/deputies, come into this career with limited verbal communication skills, with a large reliance on text messages and social media. We’ve lost our ability to talk to each other. We must invest in our people, and ultimately our community.

Third, in-person, scenario-based training, is a must. Scenario-based training teaches officers to break the impact of “tunnel vision”, keeping themselves and those they encounter safe.

President Donald Trump has been talking about harsher punishment such as implementing the death penalty for those involved in drug trafficking. Reno is often considered as a transient town. Do you believe Washoe County has a drug trafficking problem? Should there be harsher punishment for drug crimes?

Before we continue down this path, we need to do our homework, and see if the death penalty has deterred other crimes. Evidence shows this is not the case, and has the potential for violence to increase toward law enforcement.

President Nixon coined the term “War on Drugs” in 1971. Since then, we took on the challenge of fighting this battle with harsher sentences, minimum mandatory sentencing and three-strikes laws.We must continue to fight crime in our community, which includes the impact of drug trafficking. If we keep doing the same thing and expect a different result, we do ourselves a disservice. I want to find common-sense solutions, problem-solve, and use tactics that work.

Kim Meyer

Age: 49

Education: I graduated from Reno High School and the University of Nevada, Reno. I have a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice.

Law enforcement experience: I spent just over 24 years at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and retired in 2016.

Occupation: Retired/candidate for sheriff

Elevator pitch: I decided to run for Sheriff to advance the agency and provide better service to the community. I believe the community deserves a leader and a sheriff that has worked hard for them her whole career and will continue to do so.

Family: I have been married for almost 22 years. I have two children, ages 16 and 15.

Interesting tidbits: I volunteer for the Washoe County Child Advocacy Center, and I volunteer for the Urban Lotus Project, bringing yoga and mindfulness to the underserved, at risk and homeless youths.

Big idea: I will elevate the level of customer service that we provide to the community. I will return us to a community-based model of policing, where we get back into the neighborhoods and we re-establish our connection to the citizens of Washoe County. I will bring accountability and responsibility back to the agency. I will continue to improve our mental health programs in the jail and continue to seek out best practices that are working across the nation. I will mandate a mental wellness program in the agency for our commissioned staff and support staff to include dispatchers, transcribers and criminalists. I will augment the way we conduct our investigations to make them more trauma-focused and victim-centered. I will make sure our deputies have the most up to date training to handle our growing and more complex population.

First move as sheriff: My first move as sheriff will be to reassess our resource allocations to make sure they are the most efficient and best expenditure of our budget.

Political experience: It is my first time running for political office.

How would you describe Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen’s tenure? Is there anything you would do differently?

I think unfortunately Sheriff Allen didn’t understand the complexity of the sheriff’s office. He came from an organization that is very dissimilar to the sheriff’s office. I think in the last year or so, he has found his stride. I think he came to understand where his weaknesses were and last year opened the agency up for an audit by the National Sheriff’s Association. He has implemented and is implementing their recommendations.

I think he neglected to share his vision for the agency with the staff. I will make sure the agency is operating under a shared vision and mission.

What do you think the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office policy should be on deportation? Should the sheriff’s office be more involved in helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain undocumented residents?

I do not believe the sheriff’s office should be involved in the enforcement of immigration laws in an operational sense, that is federal jurisdiction. As far as the jail is concerned, I will continue to cooperate with immigration enforcement in that I will still require a warrant to detain on ICE’s behalf any undocumented individual who has come into custody and has satisfied local charges.

If a crime is committed by an undocumented individual, then appropriate law enforcement action will take place. The WCSO does not, nor will we have a practice of profiling or detaining individuals simply to ascertain their immigration status.

If there is an undocumented individual that becomes a victim of a crime, then there are measures that can be put into place to protect them, such as a U-Visa. A U-Visa allows them to stay in the country, as long as they cooperate with the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrator. As the sergeant in Crimes Against Persons, I approved and denied many of these documents. It was important to me that I completed my due diligence in these cases, which included verification of the case, cooperation during the investigation and continued cooperation during prosecution. It was not a responsibility that was taken lightly. If I denied the U-Visa, it was because the strict requirements were not met upon my investigation.

How do you plan to address the increase in inmate deaths at the Washoe County Detention Center? What are your thoughts on how those issue has been handled so far?

I believe many issues that contributed to the inmate deaths have been or are being addressed. There have been no preventable deaths in the jail over the last year.

I will address jail deaths immediately and I will ask that an uninvolved law enforcement agency conduct the death investigation. Once the investigation is complete, I will drill down on the details to ascertain the systemic or individual contributory factors to the death and implement the necessary changes.

I would have addressed the deaths in a more timely manner beginning with the first death. I believe a failure of leadership in the Detention Bureau contributed to the number of deaths.

Do you believe teachers should arm themselves? Should schools have more of a police presence?

School shootings are a multi-faceted problem that will take a multi-disciplinary approach. It will take many solutions not just one. I do not believe arming teachers is the answer. Most teachers are very resistant to this idea, and I do not think it is necessary in our jurisdiction.

I do believe that more police presence in our schools could be one of the possible solutions. I believe in hardening the exterior and firming up the interior. In speaking with community leaders, I would like to run a pilot program (in conjunction with school police) in which we set up a “substation” on campus for students. But instead of being strictly for the police, it would house a place for resources like a social worker or therapist. A place used for conflict mediation unrelated to school personnel; a place for mentorship; a place for a “reset”; a place for disclosure.

It seems like we’ve been hearing more about officer-involved shootings, not just nationwide, but in Washoe County, too. How should local law enforcement gain and maintain the public’s trust?

Locally, I do not think law enforcement agencies have lost trust with the public. Each agency seems to have a good working relationship with the community and it seems they work at retaining that relationship. As sheriff, I will continue the efforts to have strong community ties and open lines of communication with the citizens of Washoe County.

The difficulty with reducing officer involved shootings is that our interactions with the public and any subsequent use of force, are driven by what the officer perceives the contacted person is doing or about to do. It is a near impossibility to comprehend what is going through the officer’s mind and the speed at which it is necessary for him/her to make the decision to use lethal force without ever having been in that exact situation. Additionally, I believe lack of communication with and a common ground of understanding by the public fuels many misperceptions. I will work with the investigating agency that once the investigation is complete and ruled on by the DA, I will hold a town hall-style of meeting with the community.

As sheriff, I will implement training that focuses on our verbal skills and de-escalation techniques.

President Donald Trump has been talking about harsher punishment such as implementing the death penalty for those involved in drug trafficking. Reno is often considered as a transient town. Do you believe Washoe County has a drug trafficking problem? Should there be harsher punishment for drug crimes?

I don’t believe the death penalty would be a deterrent for drug trafficking. For drug trafficking of narcotics, yes, there should be harsher and increasing penalties, absent the death penalty. Harsher penalties for possessing or using drugs are not the answer. I am an advocate for holding people responsible for their behaviors. However, I am also an advocate for finding other solutions to address substance use and possession crimes. There are many programs finding success in dealing with substance use, such as The Empowerment Center and Crossroads. The problem is that the successful programs all have lengthy waiting lists and our area lacks enough resources to handle the community’s needs. Our community also lacks transitional housing in which successful “graduates” of these programs can step their way back into independent, healthy, productive and substance-free lifestyles.