Scott Finkbeiner For HSC Sheriff
The last 18 months has been many things, it’s been inspiring, exhausting, educational, disappointing and exciting. I have seen how powerful hope and perseverance can be. We all hope for the best. Unfortunately without the perseverance the best outcome isn’t the usual result
I believe our County Is capable of being a much safer place for all of us. It will however take hard work and perseverance. The number one issue that drives population growth or decline is crime. It’s above schools, jobs, location and everything else. Another way to look at it is, with our current crime situation, it is impossible for us to ever reach our potential.
In order to fix our issues we must first understand there is a problem and understand how we got here. We’ve had decades of neglect. We’ve had funding shortages, a lack of will and most of all we’ve had poor leadership. Not all elected officials have been bad, unfortunately the good ones were quickly handcuffed by those in key positions, that had personal agendas. The people of this County were somewhere down the list of priorities. There were some of the elected officials trying to do the right things and take on those in power, unfortunately they were viciously attacked and their reputation was also targeted with rumors and lies. You might ask how will I be any different? The reason is because we are now living in a different time. We have ways to communicate directly to the people using social media, also the power of the well connected has been slipping for years and the decline of our community can no longer be hidden. We the people ultimately have the final say.
For the last five plus years our Sheriff’s office has chosen to cede control of the roads and neighborhoods to drug dealers and thieves. I’m not saying it was planned this way, but it has certainly been the result. By removing radar from patrol units on the first day in office, they took away a major tool used to make traffic stops. Based on the numbers you will see later in this article, it is abundantly clear our current approach is to avoid contact with people and only answer 911 calls. What this has caused can be seen everywhere you look. After midnight the other law enforcement agencies go home in the County and the roads belong to the criminals. Our Sheriff’s Office hasn’t raided a drug house in years, (until right here before this election) for the purpose of looking for Methamphetamine. This has lead to thousands of people becoming victims of violent crime, theft and harassment. If we continue down this path the results are predictable.
I occasionally hear someone say that we aren’t any different than anywhere else. That is absolutely false. You can look no further than bordering Counties to our south. I speak with law enforcement officers every day in other Counties and they have plenty to
say about our County They complain about the bleed over effects. They have increased thefts and drugs near their borders with us.
The way we fix this problem is by becoming proactive and bringing in outside agencies to assist us. We must take back the roads from drug dealers and start raiding known drug houses that profit from these illegal activities. Once this process begins, the criminals will notice immediately and start slowing down. There are so many however, this process with likely take many months to start seeing results, but it will slow down crime.
This isn’t just about thieves and drugs. This also effects our children and their future. The more kids that are exposed to drugs and illegal activities, the more children will become addicted and many will become criminals. This is a major reason people don’t want to move here and many others move away. We must take a stand against it!
The office of Sheriff is not
about some certification or having experience inspecting commercial vehicles. It’s about leadership, putting a structure in place and getting the community involved. You can have 100 years experience writing tickets and not have the skills needed to coordinate this type of operation. We all have experience with our current leadership. We all see the results. The numbers and statistics prove this point.
Below is a comparison between Hot Spring County and Dallas County. I wanted to use them because they have fewer resources, fewer officers, a smaller budget and a much smaller population. There is no valid excuse for this. They beat us in every category and by enormous amounts in some categories.
This race isn’t about me or my opponent. This race is about our safety and our future. The choice on May 24th couldn’t be any clearer! If you want what we have currently, you can vote to continue it, if you want a different path and a safer County, I’m your candidate! Thank you!