Working together is progress; looking forward to the future and what we can do

This past Tuesday was the filing deadline for elected offices and with no one else filing for the office of sheriff, it appears I will have the opportunity to serve another term as Vernon County Sheriff. Working for the people of Vernon County has taught me a lot and there is nothing else I would rather do! Over the years there have been many opportunities for us to make improvements within the office, and I have had a chance to meet a lot of great people.

Working in law enforcement is like taking a roller coaster ride, with ups and downs along the way. There are things that make you laugh, and things that inspire you to become greater than what you are. You are able to see people overcome obstacles and achieve things that everyone else said could not be done. Things that make you appreciate life and the blessings it can bring. But there are also things that make you cry, keep you up at night, and remind you how fragile this life really is.

The daily role the Sheriff's Office plays in the lives of the people of our county is very small, and the role we do play cannot be done by any one person. Although I have used it many times before, one of my favorite quotes is from Henry Ford when he said, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." I believe the best work anyone can do is work that is done with others. Over the last few years we have been able to accomplish a lot, and it has been done by many, working together as a team.

Over the years we have added body cameras to the patrol deputies, added 24/7 coverage for county patrol units, started the fugitive task force team, improved the standards for investigators, placed a full-time deputy in the courthouse, added a tracking system to the patrol vehicles, increased revenue in the jail that broke the Sheriff's Office record for income the past two years in a row. Increasing revenue by housing inmates from other counties has allowed us to create more jobs at the Sheriff's Office and we even bought a new prisoner transport van that was paid for with inmate security money (money that is made from items sold in jail), so that not one penny of tax dollars was spent on it!

We started the inmate work days so that inmates can help give back to the community by working outside, and we started the text notification system so that we can send out alerts when there is something taking place that the public needs to be aware of.

The men and women at the Sheriff's Office have accomplished a lot over the past few years and I am very excited to see what we can do with another four years of working together!