Last Texas candidate for sheriff: Above the politics and games

Shay Bailey, current District Attorney investigator for the Taylor County Courthouse, says he is above election games and in-fighting. In an interview with Abilene Reporter News, Bailey emphasized that he is not running against Sheriff Ricky Bishop or Elias Carrasquillo Jr., he is just "running for that office" in hopes of making it better.

Unafraid to 'put cops in prison'

Shay Bailey was born in Jones County and grew up on Lake Fort Phantom Hill. He is a born and bred Texan and began his career in law enforcement 32 years ago.

Bailey got his start in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in what was then simply called "corrections." Here, he received "Officer of the Year" from the department in 1999. From there, he followed his wife to her hometown of South Bend, Indiana, after she had received a job offer.

For a short while, he worked with the sheriff's office there before becoming a certified peace officer with the South Bend Police Department. Here, Bailey ascended the ranks as he worked in undercover narcotics, eventually taking over as supervisor of the division.

It was here that he described a tough four years in which he attended five separate funerals for fellow police officers to include his own partner in narcotics.

While he said it was a horrible time, Bailey took pride in the investigations he headed up over alleged dirty cops. At the time, the South Bend Police Department had over 250 members in it, some of which Bailey had to investigate.

It was at that time that he proved unafraid to "put dirty cops in prison." According to his campaign website, Bailey believes "there’s no room for error or a lack of ethics when it comes to public safety."

A return to his roots

After four years in Indiana, Bailey, a country boy at heart, wanted to return home to Abilene to raise his children here. He subsequently re-started his law enforcement career with the Taylor County Sheriff's Department. Bailey first worked in patrol until a spot in narcotics became available.

Bailey eventually took over that department as well, in 2010 when he became the supervisor of narcotics. After about 8 years in, he also became a Federal Taskforce Officer, carrying federal credentials and enforcing federal laws in addition to state laws as well.

Bailey was awarded "Taylor County Law Enforcement Employee of the Year" for 2022. He faithfully served the sheriff's department for about 12 years, until he had decided to leave in order to give his family a respite from the demanding schedule that a narcotics officer can have.

From working weekends and nights, to always being on call, Bailey was ready for a change of pace after almost 30 years of service. He then joined the District Attorney's office about two years ago where he became an investigator.

Now, Bailey is proud of his work as an investigator where he gets to see the other side of the law, while helping victims get through their most difficult times. From only arresting criminals before, he now gets the evidence the prosecution needs in order to close the case for good.

In the interview, Bailey remarked that his new job with the District Attorney has provided him a much different outlook on life and on his career in law enforcement. He smiled as he reminisced about the victims he has helped, holding their hands throughout the entire process, and even escorting some to and from the courthouse or the airport. Many notes from these victims cover a wall in his office.

Decision to run for sheriff

Bailey doesn't take his decision to run for sheriff lightly. After serving in corrections for 12 years and law enforcement for 20, he feels he is ready to answer the call that has been on his heart for years.

Bailey noted in the interview that he had wrestled with the idea of running for sheriff for the last ten or so years, but now he feels the time is right. He described his campaign as simple: he wants to make the office "better than what it is today."

He stressed that he wants to bring the department back to being a family again. He wants to continue to "protect and lead," making sure his deputies would be happy to come to work each and every day. He wants to bring his experiences in investigations and corrections to the table and lead the department into the next era.

Changes to the sheriff's department

On his campaign website, he says that Taylor County is "exacerbated by low morale, bad organizational policy, lack of recruitment programs, and not enough rewards to keep officers on the job." If elected, Bailey's primary goal is to create a family atmosphere for all those working in the department, and raise morale and the retention rate.

Secondarily, he hopes to tighten down the budget. He hopes to bring back federal prisoners to the Taylor County Jail, which would in turn bring additional income to the jail without putting additional strain on local taxpayers.

He also hopes to broaden the training program in an effort "to consistently train officers to sharpen their skills." He says this is the one area of the new budget that he "won't skimp on."

Bailey also wants to go beyond "the bare minimum," by also increasing law enforcement at schools and increasing the number of safety meetings held every year. When it comes to safety and security at Taylor County schools, he doesn't want Abilene to become "another Uvalde."

Instead, Bailey hopes that by placing more officers in the schools, it will allow the department to go from reactive to proactive. He hopes that his officers would be able to build relationships with children so that they will have "respect for the law" and see the officers as a "friend versus the enemy."

Bailey also hopes to bring a higher level of transparency to the sheriff's office. He noted that whether the sheriff's office was to do something good or bad, he wants to hold a press conference and release that information. Here he noted that it might not suit him politically, but that if elected, he would bring back much-needed trust to the community while also protecting it.

Shay Bailey hopes to return home to the Taylor County Sheriff's Office by winning the primary elections on March 5, ending on the note that it is not personal, rather "this is democracy."

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Last Texas candidate for sheriff: Above the politics and games