Candidate Statement - Rocky Jordan
Running for Bonner County Sheriff (Const.)
Everything I do in my life has a theme running through it. I want to make my family proud, make God proud. I owe so much to my family; right down to the fact that I have wonderful children, perfect grandchildren and thanks to my favorite grandma, who was Native American, I learned tolerance. I was brought up to believe respect is something to be earned and I will be going in as Sheriff knowing I will need to earn the respect of the deputies and prove to them they have my respect. Morale is a very big deal to me. Morale in the administration is very high right now, but to me the people who put their lives on the line every single day deserve to love their jobs again. Another theme in my background is the belief in education and training; most people would be surprised at how much training their deputies already have and most of them are on a constant quest to obtain more.
My budgetary priorities are different; we are in tough economic times and money needs to go to the troops for their training. There is certain mandatory training for the Sheriff and Under Sheriff but most of the training should go to the deputies. We’ll hit areas like domestic violence, handling sexual assaults and working with the mentally handicapped. We’ll advance our training toward juveniles who make mistakes and help them get their lives back on track instead of ruining their lives.
We don’t need a plane and we don’t need a lab. Fuel money we put into the plane is of better use in the vehicles. Fairchild and the Civil Air Patrol are there for us any time we need them. I’ve been talking to some of the departments and will continue the talks about the money we can save by pooling our purchases. We also need to train together because we work together in incidents such as bomb scares and shootings. Insurance money for the plane will buy enough bullets for our people to be able to practice their shooting and continue to successfully qualify.
We need the right kind of reserves; those who do as I did and qualify to be Level one, Level two and Level threes. These reserves who achieve the highest status must pass background checks and go through an oral board. They must graduate from the reserve academy and successfully undergo training by at least two field training officers.
We will re-explore the concept of resident deputies; budget wise I don’t know yet if it’s feasible, but because we cover 19,000 square miles, it needs to be considered.
We need the Bonner County Search and Rescue and I will work to mend fences with them. We need the respect, trust and involvement of the community. Please visit my website at www.rockyjordan.com for more about me; e-mail me or call me with your questions. The Sheriff’s Office belongs to the people.
- Courtesy River Journal