CHARLES TOWN,
"It was really a
difficult situation because I was looking at candidate
The top three candidates, including Louis Brunswick and Stephen Groh, were interviewed separately in a public commissioners' meeting. The commissioners say each is very qualified with extensive law, legal or management backgrounds.
"Your role and responsibility is to run and organize the department, and you do that most effectively by being totally truthful and honest. It's not a problem of what happened in the past, it's really what we do to face the future," says Peter Daugherty, Jefferson County Sheriff.
The candidates answered identical questions about management style, school safety and top goals if appointed; but Groh was the only candidate who addressed Sheriff Shirley's resignation and what he would do as a result of it.
"Have additional
training on use of force and arrest procedures. I know the officers are trained
and professional, but given the circumstance that brought us here, we have to
make sure that they know, and the public knows that they know, what's expected
of them and how to operate in a professional manner," says Stephen Groh,
Candidates showed personality and character.
"OK, the top goal would to be getting appointed," says Louis Brunswick, Jefferson County Sheriff candidate.
But now citizens say they will feel safe and protected by their new sheriff.
"The folks that have worked here have had a period of instability for a while. I think that probably the best thing they're seeing today is stability is now back in the sheriff's office," says Daugherty.
Peter Daugherty will be sheriff until the November 2014 election, but already says he plans to run for re-election.
