Candidate should be able to answer basic questions

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed Charles County Sheriff Troy Berry (D) has someone running against him. To be an informed voter I started to ask Democratic candidate Derek Larsen a few questions. However, that seemed to be the absolute worse thing to do.

The questions I asked were very relevant to the office of the sheriff. Yet how much faith can you give an person running for an elected position refusing to answer basic questions, then blocks you from their election site?

After this I cannot hold any trust in this person, and in my opinion he is hiding something.

He has demonized Berry with lies, posted memes indicating voting for Berry will only mean more crime.

Larsen indicates he is retired from Metropolitan Police Department after 30 years as a captain. What did you do in Washington, D.C., to reduce crime? Did it work?

What is your education pertaining law enforcement? Do you hold any degrees, if so any above an associate degree?

Have you any continuing education from the National Law Enforcement Center, located a few miles away in Clinton?

How do you plan to reduce crime if elected?

A year or so back, the Charles County NAACP met with Berry to demand he promote more Black people to executive positions. Sheriff Berry stood his ground, he explained he has no Black deputies that were qualified at the time. He cannot make people take promotional exams. He would not place anyone not qualified in a position.

I asked candidate Lawson, would he stand true and not promote non-qualified officers to positions they don’t deserve, or would you go with the NAACP goal, and place these non-qualified officers in those positions?

I feel these are bare bone questions that should be asked. To be fair, Larsen did reply back with the simple response of, “He had two qualified officers, who he demoted.” He offered no source or other information to back that statement up.

Recently I asked his election Facebook page the same question. He responded back that he had answered my questions. True, but only a half answer. He indicated he will not fight this out on social media. I responded back, asking him again to please respond so all can see what he has to say.

He promptly blocked me from his page.

What is this man hiding? As you can see, the questions, basic questions for a sheriff candidate, have gone unanswered.

Donald Poole, Waldorf