Sheriff candidates duel at library
By Donna C. Gregory NEWS EDITOR

Proffitt

They each came with their verbal guns blazing, hoping to win over enough voters, so they can become the new sheriff in town. The three candidates for county sheriff - Republican Dennis Proffitt, Democrat Anthony "Perry" DeMay and Independent Kendrick Hall - faced off during a community forum hosted by the South of the James Jaycees at the Central Library last week. The candidates took aim at each other over issues such as illegal immigration, personnel matters and the department's management. Below is just a sampling of the questions posed and the candidates' responses:

What role should the sheriff's department play in handling illegal immigrants?

DeMay: Illegal immigration is actually the responsibility of the federal government. However, when they do come into our custody, and we know they are illegal, we need to make the proper notification, ensure that everybody gets the proper paperwork, and if we can get them shipped off, we need to do that.

Hall

Hall: I do feel, as Mr. DeMay stated, that it is a federal problem. However, you all watch the news everyday. They all say they don't know what to do about it, and when you address it locally through law enforcement or the board of supervisors or the governor, they all say it's a federal problem. Let me ask you something: if we got attacked tomorrow again like 9/11, would you want your local sheriff's office to sit around and do nothing? I know you wouldn't. We're going to have to address it at the local level. If we start doing it at a local level, the feds will take notice, and they'll help us. There are nearly 12 million people in this country illegally and a lot of them are in this county. They're costing us money. The very people that built [the county's] new jail and support the current sheriff are the people who want to keep the illegals in this county - they're developers, they're contractors, they're real estate people. They want to build this county into another Fairfax county. There's nothing wrong with growth. You've just got to be responsible. So, while you've got illegals in the county jail tonight sleeping in a brand new jail, we've got kids in trailers in our county schools.

DeMay

Proffitt: In 2003 [when immigration became a hot issue], we'd already worked out an agreement with the federal government to be reimbursed for every illegal immigrant we house. We now have a current program where we work with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] where everyday they get a copy of our daily population of inmates, so they can compare it with who is wanted. As Chief Thierry Dupuis with the police department said, "We can't arrest ourselves out of this problem." We have to work on it step-by-step. Congressman [Eric] Cantor wants to work on a program where the first deportations are the ones who commit crimes, so that's where we have to start. We've been very active on this, and on average with ICE, we're looking at deporting about 10 a month at the Chesterfield County jail.

Would you make changes in the way promotions are awarded?

Hall: In my eight years with the sheriff's office, minorities have been very absent in the higher administration - lieutenants and up. Basically, it's just a bunch of old white men running the sheriff's office. That's not acceptable in a county that's as diverse as Chesterfield. I don't agree with it. Women have really suffered under the past regime of Clarence Williams. I want to make changes. We're going to bring in some quality people, and no more bringing in high ranking individuals from other law enforcement agencies to take cushy jobs to finish out their careers.

Proffitt: We have the highest promotion rate for minorities of any public safety agency around. At our last promotional process, over 60 percent of our promotions have been minorities. Our minority hiring rate and promotion rate is higher than any other public safety agency in Chesterfield County.

DeMay: We need to base promotions on merit and experience, not because they're our buddy. According to Sheriff Proffitt's own figures, in the latest Employee Satisfaction Index, [a survey of employees conducted every other year], every area [of measurement] has dropped. That means something's wrong. Something's wrong with the management of the department.

What would be your top priorities as sheriff?

Proffitt: The sheriff's department has doubled in size in less than 10 years, and we have become a part of the community. Ten years ago, you would have never heard the county administration get up and talk about public safety - they'd say fire and police. Over the last thee years when they talk about public safety, they say the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office, the Chesterfield County Police Department, the Chesterfield County Fire Department. My priority is to make sure we are part of that community, and we are part of public safety, and that we deliver to this county the best public safety they can get and that we do that by sharing responsibilities with our sister agencies in this county.

DeMay: Public safety is my number one concern. One of the biggest responsibilities of the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office is the jail. [We need to] make sure it's properly managed. In May this year, they let an inmate walk out of the jail with a 240-month prison sentence. Then in June of this year, an inmate was left in the visitation booth for six hours, and he committed suicide. Something's wrong here. You can't pass the buck.

Hall: My main concern is illegal immigration. I'm going to enter into an agreement with ICE. They've had this program available since 1996 called 287(g). What you do is you enter into a memorandum agreement with ICE to act as their agents. We'd take our deputies that work in the jails processing inmates, [and] they would be trained. It's a four-week program, federally funded, no additional cost to the taxpayers. We would then be able to detain [illegal immigrants]. Under this program, if they get 60 days on a DUI, they don't leave on the 61st day. They stay there, and they get deported. Like the chief of police said, we can't arrest our way out of it, but we've got to start somewhere, and this is the place to start.

Describe your actual experience with a budget. What's the largest budget you've ever worked with?

Hall: I don't have a lot of experience in that area. My experience goes back to working for my father in his business back in the 1970s, 80s. However, I don't necessarily have to have the actual experience of crunching numbers. Sheriff Proffitt has an individual who takes care of that for him. Bringing in someone who's well-educated and experienced to do such a task is what it's all about. I'm sure governors don't know everything about budgets and neither do presidents. The main thing is to surround yourself with some successful, well-educated people who have that experience.

Proffitt: My budget experience goes all the way back to when I was a captain with the police department. And although I do have [an employee] who takes care of my budget for me, and he's very well-trained, I am responsible for that budget. When it comes down to the bottom line of what's cut, what we spend [money on], that decision is up to me.

DeMay: My experience is working with Virginia State Parks, and we never have enough money, and that's always a challenge for us. In an actual dollar amount, about $50,000 per project is what I've been personally responsible for.