Sheriff candidates sound off

Oct. 21—GREENSBURG — Incumbent Decatur County Sheriff Dave Durant and Bill Meyerrose, his Republican challenger in the November 8 General Election, recently answered questions during a luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Decatur County.

The forum was facilitated by Rotarian Bryan Robbins.

Both candidates were given five minutes to respond to five questions from the facilitator, and then took questions from the audience with similar time constraints.

The questions asked and the candidates' responses follow.

"How would you describe your leadership style?"

Meyerrose answered first, quoting deceased Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"Leadership is solving problems," Meyerrose read. "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stop leading them. They've either lost confidence that you can help or have concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."

Durant described himself as a "servant leader," quoting Romans 13:4 in saying "For he is a servant for your good, to do you good. But if you do bad or are a wrong or evil doer be afraid because he doth not bear the sword in vain."

He talked briefly about the many programs, Christian and non-Christian, he has brought to the jail to help inmates rejoin society, and after summing up his four years as Decatur County Sheriff emphasized, "It's not about me, it's about the community."

"Looking at crime trends in the county, what are the top three priorities for law enforcement?"Narcotics was Durant's first response, followed by heavy traffic enforcement and then lowering the recidivism rate.

Meyerose echoed Durant, saying narcotics was the first priority (specifically, methamphetamine coming in from across the borders). A Drug Task Force was his next response, followed by the importance of communication and sharing of information between and within law enforcement agencies.

"Mental Health has grown in importance after the pandemic. What part do you see the Sheriff's Department playing in this growing concern?"

Meyerrose said, "If I'm elected, I will contract with quality correctional care, not just mental health services but addiction services as well, all at no cost to the taxpayers." He mentioned several programs for inmates he intends to preserve and added "even parenting classes." He also mentioned the possibility of replacing Suboxone with the non-narcotic Vivitrol to aid in addiction control in the jail.

Durant said that adults with learning or developmental disabilities must be addressed at the jail as well as addressing issues of addiction and negative social behavior.

"We don't heal our community with drugs, we heal them with the hands and feet of Christ, and those are us," he said.

"School shootings. What trainings would you like to see offered here, and what would you like to see done to prevent them here?"

Durant responded first, complimenting GPD Chief McNealy on his active shooter trainings at the high school which all deputies have attended. He also felt optics on handguns were necessary, as well as leadership training for all officers in active shooter instances.

"What we saw in Uvalde and in other mass school shootings I will not allow to happen under my watch if I'm re-elected," Durant said.

Meyerrose said he didn't have experience in such instances, but training together as departments was vital. "Prepare for the worst, and pray for the best," he said.

Considering that elections sometimes cause hard feelings among the candidates, how will you move the department forward if you are elected?"

Meyerrose said that his door is always open."If you have issues, come in, sit down, and we'll talk about them. I'm big into partnerships," he said. He said mentoring was also important as well as keeping a journal of past experiences.

Durant said he has no job openings among his deputies because he'd provided them a clear chain of command, a clear career path, higher salaries, more and better equipment, and a higher set of standards as incentives for remaining on the job.

"What can you or the county do to make working in Decatur County more attractive to potential candidates?"

Durant said one thing he'd propose to county leaders is the creation pay grades based on longevity, providing new trainees incentive to join the force and stay.

Meyerrose said that natives to Decatur County should be held onto and retained. He also intends to increase the number of Resource Officers in all three local school systems.

"What are your thoughts on bail reform?"

Meyerrose said bail reform is not really an issue in Decatur County and that he doesn't see it becoming an issue.

Durant said Greensburg was not a Chicago or a New York City in that Greensburg's conservative bent keeps the true criminals in jail. "If interviews during their time in jail threw up red flags, then they would be kept in jail," he said.

Questions from the floor

On the subject of keeping currently employed personnel on the job during the post-election period, both candidates spoke about the difficulty in retaining employees since the pandemic, the importance of SRO's in the schools, and the importance of working with the schools.

Both candidates agreed on the importance of providing deputies with body and dash cams while on patrol, but Durant, after talking about the cost of body cams, said constituents had never asked him why deputies had no body cams and that Meyyerose was the only one to bring it up.

Regarding what Greensburg citizens can do the help deputies do their jobs, Durant said the volunteers that already come into the jail to help are already doing their part.

Meyerrose said, "Decatur County's a wonderful place, but the bottom line is that the people here want a safe community, and in my experience they are already willing to help us."

Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com