Q: Tell us about yourself and your law enforcement experience.

A: I live in Fair Grove, MO with my wife and two kids. My family and I are into horse riding activities. We’re in the 4-H and very involved in the Springhill Baptist Church. I’ve worked for the Greene County Sheriff’s Department for 20 years this year. I started as a reserve patrolman. After about a year, I became a full time paid patrolman. I was promoted to detective under Sheriff John Pierpont. Then I worked the majority of my career in the detectives unit for about ten years. Then I was promoted to sergeant, lieutenant and then promoted to chief deputy.

Q: Why did you run for Sheriff?

A: I have a 20 year investment in the sheriff’s department and the citizens of Greene County. I feel I’ve spent over half my life working with the citizens and members of the department doing this type of work. It seemed only natural to take this next step.

Q: What would you do to solve the jail overcrowding problem?

A: It’s a complex problem. I’ve explained it several times to the public. I look at the jail the jail and the judicial system as a funnel. The jail is the big end of the funnel. That’s where the inmates and the people waiting for trial are. The small end of the funnel is the judicial system; the prosecutor’s office and public defenders. Based on a study done for the state of Missouri, we are seven judges short. As the courts back up, it backs up the Greene County Jail. The majority of the inmates are pretrial detainees just waiting to go to trial. There are several things we can do. One thing we started this year is our GPS ankle bracelet program. It’s brand new. We are analyzing people that are not any risk to society. If they are released with this, they are low level crimes. We present that to the judge. They make the decision on who gets out of jail. I think that’s one difference that I have. I work with the system everyday and have for 20 years. I know exactly how it works. As the sheriff or sheriff’s department, we can’t take someone out of jail. The only person that can let someone out of jail is the judge. If someone comes in on an arrest warrant, the judge has to decide if they bond out, are released on their own recognisance, or if they are let out in some other fashion like an ankle bracelet. We are working together as a group with the county commission, the police chiefs, the prosecutor’s office and all the judges. We get together and talk about how to free up space. I think the judges have done a good job of using alternative sentencing. We have to look at other means and we are. We have meetings every month. We’ve improved communication. We can contact a judge and say what do you want to do about a specific inmate. Whether it’s for a medical issue or an issue where the person could be out and do okay. The largest percentage of our jail population are in there because they are poor. If they had money they’d make bond, get out and show up on their court date. I think we do and will continue to present alternative programs to the judges and let them make a decision. Ultimately it’s the judges’ decision but I think we work well.

Another thing we’re doing right now is the Safety and Justice Roundtable. The county commission has formed the roundtable that is made up of 18 citizens. They look at each aspect of the system and how we can streamline it. The county commission hired a courts administrator that will work as an employee for the judges. I think those things are getting in place. I have worked as interim director at the jail so I know jail operations. We are going to work as a group to work on solutions for it. There is no one thing that will make this stream line any quicker there are multiple things by multiple players.

Other than jail issues there is the other side which is patrol, detectives and the rest of the department. I have a four year plan that I want to expand staff. We hear a lot about the overcrowding but we aren’t talking about understaffing. We are 31 correctional officers short because the money is not there to fund those positions. We’re staffed to hold 450 traditionally we are at 560. A lot of people are talking about day reporting centers. Before I would do anything, I would staff what we have. My thing would be to continue my four year plan to get more patrols out in the county. Our call load has gone up 58% in the last two years and we’ve only added two deputies.

Q: What would you do differently than the current sheriff?

A: The sheriff and I have some what different philosophies. For the most part we think the same, as far as fairness to employees and good service to the citizens. I’d like to do a little bit more in our training program. The sheriff agrees with that. I’d put more emphasis on training as our budget allows. As you know there are budget crisis problems I’d have to take a look at. I’d continue to look at grants. We’ve received 6 million dollars in grants over the last 8 years. That says a lot for the performance of the department. You don’t continually get grants unless you show a high degree of return. I’m not sure there’s one thing specifically I would do differently. I’d like to start some different programs and continue to boost the programs we have. I’d like to continue getting more reserve officers. I’d like to continue the collaboration with all the other departments and citizens. I’ve really enjoyed getting out and going door to door. It’s been an overwhelming positive response. People are proud of the sheriff’s department and how professional they are.

Q: Why should people choose you over the other candidates?

A: One word, experience. As I said I have 20 years at the sheriff’s department. I have a 20 year investment. I have the experience. I have the education to administer a department. I’m the only candidate that’s attended and graduated from the FBI National Academy. Only 1% of all law enforcement get to attend. I’ve been in the administration of a jail. I know how it operates which is a large portion of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department. I’m ahead of the curve on that. There’s a lot that I’ve done as chief deputy and interim director. There are a lot of money savings programs that I did that I will continue. We cut our health care expenses by quite a bit by enacting some programs that I was working on. I think the experience is the big thing and the passion is the number two thing. I’m very passionate. I love my job. I love the people I serve and I love interacting with the community. That’s why I’m involved in so many community organizations. I’m not just law enforcement I’m a member of this community. Whether it’s the victim’s center, child advocacy center, 4-H, or our church, I think that’s what makes a good sheriff. I’m someone who’s not just involved but invested in this community.

Q: What is your biggest weakness?

A: My biggest weakness as far as the campaign is concerned, is that I am the chief deputy. Anything that happens, people will point the finger toward me but it’s also one of my strong points.

Q: Is a vote for Jim Arnott the same as a vote for Sheriff Jack Merritt?

A: No. I’ve received a lot of community support from all community members whether they are Democrat or Republican. There are people behind me due to my community involvement not just my association with Sheriff Merritt. Sheriff Merritt has helped me in my career. I won’t take away from that. He’s been great to me and my family but I am a separate person. My whole career is the Greene County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Merritt came from the highway patrol. He came over and did a good job but I’ve worked under two administrations in the sheriff’s department. I am my own person. A vote for me is a vote for Jim Arnott, a vote for integrity, experience. It’s about me and it’s about what the Greene County Sheriff’s Department needs. I think I’m a good example of what the Greene County Sheriff’s department can produce. I’m a 20 year employee who stayed not for the money because it isn’t always there in law enforcement but because it’s my choice and my passion.

Q: Recently Sheriff Merritt has been interviewed for several incidents involving employees including; Sergeant Robert Green’s taser incident, the controversy surrounding a recording of Lt. Blaine Kennard not pulling over a suspected drunk driver because he was headed home and most recently the officers who handcuffed a young woman who wouldn’t pull over until she was in a well lit area. Do you think these incidents will affect your campaign for sheriff? What does it say about the department?

A: I think you have to look at each incident differently. I won’t get into the specifics of each incident. Being that I am the chief deputy, those are ultimately up to the sheriff to make a decision on what he wants to do for discipline. I believe our system is fair. We have a policy manual that requires some cases to be brought before a review board. That’s a review board of peers. They are selected because they have a minimal association with the affected employee. They make a recommendation and the sheriff ultimately makes a decision. As far as fairness, I think the decisions made are fair. If you’re the affected employee you may not agree. One thing that is not put out there is the totality of the circumstances. Just because you catch a small portion of a video or excerpt from a radio doesn’t give you the whole complete story. The sheriff and staff would have the complete story to make their decision. I think it’s really easy to Monday morning quarterback a decision that an officer has to make in 2 to 3 seconds. In reference to the car stop, there is a deputy sheriff that made a very similar car stop. The suspects were traveling the same speeds as the young woman. In the other case the suspects were planning to kill that deputy. When that deputy made that stop and stepped out of his vehicle he was shot. That deputy survived and he is still working at the sheriff’s department. There are a lot of things you have to take into play before you judge somebody. We weigh out if there is a policy violation or a criminal violation and then make a recommendation.

Q: Do you think all of these incidents brought to the media’s attention in such a short period of time says something about the department’s policies or training or is this an election stunt?

A: It’s hard to argue that timing isn’t one of the reasons due to it being an election year. I think you can look at several other departments that have more newsworthy things going on that doesn’t get publicized as much as something that happens here. Part of that is because the media is centrally located in Greene County. We can always use additional training. That’s one thing I want to increase. I’m not talking about one particular case but officers will make mistakes. They are human and if they make a mistake than it’s our job as administrators to deal with that. If you had policy that there were no ways to make judgment calls you’d pretty much have robots out on the street.

Q: As far as the health issues in the jail, a judge spoke out about medical care, then a young woman died shortly after she was released from jail. What do you think about these incidents and is there room for change.

A: Because there may be pending litigation as a member of the department I can’t speak on either of those incidents. Let me talk in general terms. Our medical staff have a doctor, a nurse supervision, RN’s, LPN’s and medical technicians. We are probably the most equipped jail facility in southwest Missouri as far as medical treatment. Our pharmacy bill can be upwards of $32,000 a month so to say we are withholding medication is pretty ridiculous. A pharmacy bill that high tells you we are dispensing medication. We are always reviewing our medical procedures. We have a new doctor that has come in and re-written all the protocols. He has implemented those. We have a full psychologist on staff. We also have 15 psychology interns coming in every day. I think our medical department is doing really well. The problem is we get the sickest of the sick people in the Greene County Jail. They have not taken care of themselves. The people that are arrested have not gone to the health clinic and taken care of themselves. They’d rather abuse drugs or alcohol. It’s our responsibility to get them medically stable. It’s hard to pass judgment on a staff that’s dealing with the worst percentage of medical problems. If you look at other jails our size and look at inmate staph infection ratios we are less than 1%. There is always going to be issues though because there are sick people.