|
 We
met today with the two candidates for Crow Wing County Sheriff,
Sheriff Eric Klang and Deputy Sergeant Todd Dahl. Each candidate
was allowed a 7 minute presentation and then a question and answer
period followed. Special thanks goes to Matt Henneken who had
prepared his Sertoman of the Day speech, but graciously agreed to
postpone it until November to allow more time for the debate.
However, the event proved to be a very friendly discussion between
two candidates who share many of the same viewpoints and
qualifications for the job.
 Sheriff
Klang won the toss and began by talking about his four years in
office and the exciting projects that are nearing completion. The
first is called joint records management and will place all eleven
police agencies in Crow Wing County under the same system so that
everyone involved in law enforcement has direct access to any and
all records.
The new jail has been discussed before and Sheriff Klang again
invited us to the "sleepover" which has been scheduled the third
weekend in February and will see service clubs and volunteers
helping to test the technology. He remarked at the close of his
speech, "The sheriff is the face of law enforcement and it is the
sheriff's job to listen to the community." He continued "I am
running on my record and I am proud of it."
 Sergeant
Dahl has been involved in law enforcement on the local scene for
twenty years. He was born in Crosby, graduated from Brainerd in
1983, and attended Bemidji State University.
His long term goals has been to achieve enough education to
qualify for the job of sheriff and he thinks the time is finally
right for him. He talked about his work with SWAT, Boat and Water
, and the Certified Trainer program. He remarked, "The voters
should elect the most highly trained educated candidate with the
most experience".
His goal for improving the office is to encourage more personal
communication between the people and his officers and the be
proactive rather than reactive. Both candidates emphasized in the
discussion of the money spent on the new jail that it was
absolutely necessary. The programs in the jail along with the drug
court should definitely affect the recidivism rate locally.
Todd remarked, "Education is the key to success and we have to
educate the inmates." These programs will include things like
balancing checkbooks and passing the GED exam. Thanks to both of
these outstanding candidates for their presentation. |
