Five candidates square off in Whitley Sheriff’s forum

Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell, left, listens while challenger Jim Thornton, Third District Constable, speaks during a public forum held Monday night for all Sheriff candidates. The forum was sponsored by the Whitley County UNITE Coalition.

(Editor’s note: Due to the amount of subject matter, the second part of this story will appear in the May 7 edition of the News Journal.)

What are the biggest priorities that the next sheriff will be dealing with? Should the next sheriff use special deputies? Does the sheriff’s department have enough deputies on the road? Do the candidates feel that the position of constable should be abolished?

These are just some of the many issues addressed during a forum for Whitley County Sheriff’s candidates, which was held Monday evening at Williamsburg City Hall.

All five candidates for the Republican nomination for sheriff attended the event, including incumbent Sheriff Colan Harrell, Jailer Ken Mobley, Third-District Constable Jim Thornton, Denver Bargo and Darren Gilreath.

Suffice it to say that the challengers all felt they would do a better job than the incumbent, who touted his accomplishments while in office.

Because the only Democratic candidate in the race, Brad Terrell, has withdrawn, the winner of the May primary will be unopposed in November barring a write-in candidate.

The forum was sponsored by the Whitley County UNITE Coalition. It was attended by over 40 people, some of who stood in the hallway outside the packed council meeting room to watch.

Retired district and circuit judge John Knox Mills, who is currently a professor at the University of the Cumberlands, moderated the forum.

Each candidate was allowed two minutes to respond to the questions.

Mills rotated the order in which the candidates were asked a series of 15 questions, including the introduction and closing remarks.

 

Introduction

Mobley is a lifelong resident of Whitley County, who has worked in law enforcement for 40 years. He has been jailer for about nine years.

"I feel like I know the needs and wants of the people of Whitley County. I feel like I am well qualified for the office of sheriff," Mobley said.

Bargo is a Whitley County native, who was raised on Wolf Creek near Pleasant View.

He grew up on a farm, and worked for 15 years as a police officer after he got out of the military.

Bargo started at the Williamsburg Police Department on Jan. 1, 1971. He retired from the Williamsburg Police Department as assistant chief.

"I was the kind of police officer, who loved to answer calls because it made your time go faster," Bargo said. "I was always against drugs. I loved to arrest thieves."

Gilreath is a Williamsburg native, who has lived in Whitley County his entire life.

Gilreath grew up on a farm and has owned an operated a business in Whitley County.

"I know how to work. I was raised in a family business. My dad has been in a family business here since 1978," Gilreath said. "I have business ethics. I know how to make things work."

Gilreath has worked for CSX since 2003, and for the last eight years has been over Operation Red Block, which is a drug and alcohol program.

Gilreath said he feels that he can educate families about how not to enable addicts and how to get them into drug rehab.

If elected, Gilreath said he would attend the National Sheriff’s Association’s Institute for training.

Harrell worked for 40 years with the Kentucky State Police and has served as sheriff since Jan. 2, 2011.

He is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with a police administration degree and from Cumberland College where he received a public service degree.

Last year, the sheriff’s department initiated 114 drug indictments in Whitley Circuit Court and answered over 12,000 complaints through the 911 center.

"We have several programs going on. I would like to continue this," Harrell said.

Thornton has served as Third-District Constable for nearly eight years. He is also a small business owner in Williamsburg.

"I have a business mind. I have law enforcement behind me," Thornton noted.

He described being constable as being like a "charity job."

"What I have done for the past eight years is because I care about this county. I may not be the most experienced on here but I will be the most hard working one," Thornton said.

 

Most pressing issues

What do the candidates feel are the counties most pressing issues and what would they do as sheriff to resolve those issues?

The candidates seemed to agree that drugs and theft are probably the two biggest issues in the county.

"People care about their homes, the security of their homes and they care about their personal property. They also want rid of the big drug dealers out here," Bargo said.

Bargo cited an incident he was involved in where a woman was robbed, thrown out in his yard and the deputy responding didn’t even work a case on it.

"Your officer came up there Colan. He took the woman home. He didn’t even file a case report," Bargo said. "This is something I will work on. If I am sheriff of Whitley County and you have any problem out there. I will work a case report on it and stay there until it is resolved."

Harrell said that he wasn’t aware of the situation that Bargo referred to.

"You should have contacted me if you felt that was so serious," Harrell added.

Gilreath described the drug problem as an epidemic.

"There are a lot of different ways to go about combating it. We have to educate our community about the drugs in our community and how to combat it," Gilreath said.

"If families understand how to combat a family member, who is addicted to drugs, it can be a success. As long as they don’t understand the background of it and how not to enable them as a drug addict, then it is going to continue to fail."

Gilreath estimates that about 90 percent of theft cases involve drugs.

"We have to catch the thieves out here in order to combat the drug cases too," Gilreath said.

He also suggested holding deputies in the sheriff’s department accountable.

"GPS and cameras need to be put back into these cruisers. These officers need to be held accountable for the calls that they take," Gilreath said. "We need know if they have made the calls. We need to know where they are at."

He said GPS is also essential for officer safety if something happens to an officer out in the county.

Gilreath said there are grant funds available to do this.

Harrell responded that GPS and cameras are expensive items.

"This is a poor county. This is a poor sheriff’s department," Harrell added.

Harrell said that his department is working to address the drug and theft problem.

He agreed that 90 percent of the theft revolves around drugs.

Thornton said that the first thing he would do as sheriff is go through the budget and try to find money to employee more deputies and drug detectives.

"We have one of the biggest budgets in the state of Kentucky but one of the smallest department in the surrounding area," Thornton said.

Thornton said that the policy of the current administration is to relay drug trips to the narcotics detective the following day.

Thornton suggested getting an informant and doing a "buy/bust" which involves making a drug purchase with an undercover officer or informant and then immediately making the arrest.

Mobley said that the drug problem in the county is like a snake or group of snakes.

Cutting the tail off a snake won’t kill it. You have to cut off the head, he said.

"There is more than one drug dealer in this county. You can’t do it by having drug round-ups three or four months out of the year," Mobley said. "You have to work at it seven days a week, 24 hours a day. It is going to be a full time job. When you start containing the drug problem your other crimes are going to slow down. It all feeds off the drug crime."

 

Utilizing the media

How important is the use of the media and how can the next sheriff effectively utilize the media?

Gilreath said use of the media is a major factor in keeping the public informed about drug activity.

"I think they need to be used a little more in the theft cases and to let the people know which communities are being hit the hardest," he said.

Gilreath also advocated setting up a community alert system where people could sign up and automated calls could go out to alert people about a felon being loose in their area and other things.

Harrell said that his department strives to be transparent and everything it does is put out for the newspaper.

In addition, the department has a Facebook page where releases are posted, including things, such as severe weather alerts.

"In the 40 years I was with the state police I solved many a case by using the media," Harrell added.

Thornton agreed that the media is an important tool for communicating with the public and getting information distributed, such as scams targeting the elderly.

"On top of that it keeps our politicians on their toes. These offices should be reporting to them and letting them know what is going on," Thornton said.

Mobley suggested that the sheriff publish a weekly activity report.

"I think it would be a good thing to publish it in the paper once a week and if people have a question or an interest in a particular case they can call the sheriff’s department," he added.

Bargo said that the biggest problem now is that one person is doing the work but another is taking credit for it all, which leads to officer burnout.

"Every officer should be recognized for every bit of the law enforcement work that he does," Bargo said.

 

911 board

(Editor’s note: Late last year four members of the Whitley County 911 Board resigned including former Chairman Jerry Rains, Second-District Constable Ron "Bubba" Bowling, Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird and Harrell. Some board members cited frustration that some measures it would pass were not implemented.)

Recent issues have arisen about the Whitley County’s 911 Board. How do you feel about the importance of the 911 board and its working relationship with all law enforcement?

Harrell said that 911 is in part a communication system between the citizens and law enforcement.

"The 911 board is to set policies and procedures and make sure they are enforced. I can’t get into any more of it without getting into politics," he added.

Thornton said that since he joined the 911 board he has learned quite a bit about it.

Thornton said he can’t understand why someone would want to step aside from the board and not support it.

"I think you are there to correct it and help it," Thornton said.

Mobley described 911 as a lifeline for emergency workers and police officers.

"I just wish the officers had better communications," Mobley said.

Mobley said that when he was a road officer if he needed to talk to Corbin or Williamsburg officers, then he could do so.

He isn’t sure that is the case with the current communications set up in the county.

"If I get after somebody here in Williamsburg, I’d sure like to be able to holler at somebody in Corbin and tell them to block the road. I don’t know if that capability is there now," Mobley said.

Harrell replied there is a mutual aid channel that officers can use.

Mobley said that he doesn’t have a problem with local citizens not being able to monitor police communications with police scanners.

Bargo said that 911 is a good thing but a better thing would be to keep the sheriff’s department open 24 hours a day.

Bargo said that he would do this by utilizing volunteers.

He said that veterans’ administration hospitals are run in a similar fashion.

Bargo said that all the agencies, including EMS, fire departments and police should all be on the same radio frequency.

Gilreath said the 911 board is a necessity so rules and regulations can be set and enforced.

Gilreath said each agency, including police, fire and EMS, should have a representative on the 911 board to keep everyone on the same page.

"If we fight this as a team, it will be a success. If we fight it divided, it is going to be a losing matter from here on out," Gilreath added.

 

Cities

About one third of voters live in the city limits of either Corbin or Williamsburg. What do you say to those voters about the importance of the sheriff’s office and local law enforcement?

Thornton admits that to people in the cities, the sheriff’s department doesn’t matter a lot because they already have law enforcement protection.

Thornton said Corbin has about 20 police officers and Williamsburg has about 12 police officers while the sheriff’s department only has eight or nine patrol deputies.

"I say to the voters, look at the current sheriff, ask yourself why do we have a low amount of deputies patrolling the county and take that into consideration. Vote for anybody but Colan Harrell," Thornton said.

Mobley said that people in Corbin and Williamsburg have police protection while people in the county seem to be left out.

"Everybody needs to realize that this is a huge county. It is going to take a lot of officers. One of my goals would be to get more officers, if the funding is there." Mobley said.

"I think we need to work better with Williamsburg police and Corbin police and the sheriff’s department."

Bargo said that back in the days when he was a police officer there was no law enforcement in the county after 2 a.m.

Bargo noted that Corbin police have a $2.9 million budget while Harrell’s department has a $1.5 million budget.

Harrell corrected him that it was a $1.6 million budget.

Bargo said that the department needs to utilize all the volunteer help it can get given budget constraints.

Gilreath said the biggest necessity is that there needs to be teamwork between the sheriff’s department and the city police departments.

Gilreath said that sheriff’s deputies need to be out in the county patrolling and not sitting in the city half of their time.

He again advocated installing GPS systems to better monitor officers.

"Whitley County doesn’t have enough officers. I will agree with that. Whether the budget will allow enough officers – $1.6 million seems like a lot of money and I believe we could put a couple of more officers on the street, Gilreath said.

He added his goal would be to hire a couple more officers and put them on the streets if the budget would allow.

Harrell said that his department works with all professional police departments.

Harrell questioned the other candidates about how much it costs to put one deputy on the road?

Bargo said that he had a pretty good idea.

Harrell said that it costs $47,000 before the officer ever puts on his gun belt. It costs an additional $5,000 for equipment plus the vehicle.

Harrell estimates that it costs about $65,000 – $70,000 per unit.

The sheriff’s department has 30 personnel, including three office workers.

There are 15 police officers including Harrell.

Harrell has one chief deputy, one narcotics detective, two school resource officers and nine road deputies.

"It is all a matter of economics. Whenever we get more money we will put more officers on the road," Harrell said.

"When you get back to drugs, anybody here, who thinks the teenagers here are buying their drugs from a Hollywood kingpin, then they are mistaken. They are buying from their neighbors and friends."

 

Role of constables

A house bill introduced in the state legislature this year that would have allowed legislative bodies to abolish the office of constable. Do you support the bill and what role, if any, should constables play?

Mobley said he feels that constables are very important and serve a lot of legal paperwork.

"I think we need our constables," Mobley said.

Bargo agreed that we should keep constables.

"I think we need to keep them, but we need to work with them. There is no need in doing away with help when you can get it for free," Bargo added.

Gilreath said constables are a necessity and can be the first line of defense and are sometimes the first ones to arrive at problems.

"I don’t agree with abolishing their jobs. I believe it is a necessity and we need them," Gilreath said. "They do a lot of serving paperwork that takes a lot of work off deputies."

Harrell said that constables are kind of like sheriffs.

"There should be a minimum standard. They should be qualified. They should be certified," Harrell said.

He cited Tennessee as a good example of state that requires a physical and a certification for someone to serve as constables.

"I would like for those two things to happen to the constables and also to the sheriffs. As far as abolishing them, that would be up to the public," Harrell said.

"Constables have helped us on several takedowns. As long as they are training, I have no problem with them."

Suffice it to say that Thornton feels that constables are important.

"I have arrested drug dealers. I have personally saved three lives by my own hands," Thornton said. "I think if you asked any of those guys if they think constables are viable or not, they are going to tell you yes. They don’t care if they are qualified or not."

 

Special deputies

(Editor’s note: In 2010 under the administration of former Sheriff Lawrence Hodge, a federal civil court jury handed down a multimillion judgment against Whitley County stemming from an assault case involving a special deputy with the sheriff’s department. When Harrell took office two months later, he did away with special deputies in the sheriff’s department.)

How do you feel about the use of special deputies? Without special deputies how would you address the issue in regards to response times?

Bargo said police officers can be hired for one year and can work without being sent to the police academy during that time period.

If they don’t work out, then the sheriff can get rid of them at that point or send them to the police academy.

Bargo said more people are needed and he would keep professional deputies in addition to having special deputies.

"If we don’t have enough people, we are going to have to get them from somewhere, if we don’t have money to pay them with," Bargo said. "I suggest we just take the volunteers and keep the leadership deputies that are trained."

Gilreath said that special deputies could play a vital role especially when paired with trained deputies to cut down on call backlog because two trained deputies are busy on the same call.

He suggested implementing a training program for special deputies.

"I’m sure there are officers in this county that would volunteer their time to one day a week for 15 weeks or whatever it be to train special deputies and give them what little training they need to back up some of the officers in this county," Gilreath said.

He further advocated establishing neighborhood watches again.

Harrell said that he doesn’t have special deputies.

"If someone calls 911, they should expect a trained officer at the scene. I have not had a reason to have special deputies," Harrell said.

Harrell said there are isolated cases with slow response times and there will always be to some degree no matter how many deputies are patrolling.

Harrell said that he could only think of two cases with delayed response times.

"Sometimes in isolated cases, it may have taken an hour to get there. If it is a priority type life and death situation they will drop what they are doing and go to it. If it is a burglary, it may sit there an hour if we don’t have anybody else available," Harrell said.

He said economics prevents putting an officer on every corner and police have to work within their budgetary restraints.

Thornton said that special deputies could save the county money by pairing them with regular deputies so the deputies will have back up sitting beside them.

Mobley said that he is in favor of special deputies, they are needed and that they need some training.

A forum for the jailer’s candidates is scheduled for next Monday at 6 p.m. at Williamsburg City Hall, but officials said that the time and location might change to accommodate what they expect to be a larger crowd.