If elected, I will provide Dare County with a more effective and more efficient Sheriff’s Office. My plan follows a simple formula for bringing about much needed changes. The ABC’s of my plan are Accessibility, Balance, and Commitment.
Accessibility:
I believe the Sheriff’s Office serves the people of Dare County and to do that successfully, the Sheriff must make himself available to hear what the citizens have to say. It doesn’t do a bit of good to shut yourself in an office all day and act as if Dare County begins and ends at the Manteo town line.
Accessibility begins with simply making sure everyone can call me. My personal cell phone number is (252) 216-9898. I have it on my business cards, it will be on all official communications and Sheriff’s Office stationary. The only time I won’t answer the phone myself is if I’m in court or church, but if you leave a message I will call you right back.
Accessibility also means making my deputies more available to the public. I am fully committed to a broad community policing approach. I want to get my deputies out of their cars and into neighborhoods, businesses, schools, and any other venue where they can have positive contacts with the public.
Finally, Accessibility means that the public has the opportunity to see what their Sheriff’s Office is doing for them. I will have a Dare County Sheriff’s website where our activities are listed for everyone to see. Citizens will be able to provide feedback, criticism, compliments and even make suggestions to improve our service.
Balance:
In Law Enforcement, there's a tendency to view the public with a “Us vs. Them” mentality. In fact, the police serve the communities in which they work. Fifty years ago the job was all about locking up bad guys, but now we have to take a broader perspective. Officers have to be involved in the community, they have to be problem solvers not just ticket writers. Make no mistake, I’m going to enforce the law and lock up the bad guys, but I’m also going to do more. I’m going to form strong partnerships with private sector entities as well as vital governmental institutions like the Department of Social Services, Older Adult Services, and Friends of Youth. Together we’re going to see that citizens get the very best service Dare County has to offer.
Balance also means bringing a more proactive approach toward law enforcement. Right now, police work is mostly reactive. We get a 911 call, we respond. A home gets broken into, we take a report. A citizen complains about suspicious activity, we investigate. There will always be a reactive component to police work, but I think we can do better in detecting and deterring problems.
Commitment:
I love Dare County. We have a community here that is rare and precious and I am committed to protecting that. We've already lost a lot of ground. Gone are the days you could leave your doors unlocked and your keys in the car. What I want to prevent is getting to the point where we're putting bars on windows and metal detectors in the schools.
I’m proud to send my own children through Dare County schools, which are some of the best in the state. I’m proud of the generosity of our citizens when it comes to raising money for worthy causes. I’m proud of our clean beaches and the fact that even in a down economy, we remain a favorite destination for folks from all over the world.
I'm committed to keeping Dare County a place where people want to raise families, where they feel safe, and where they want to return to visit year after year.
Paid for by Friends to Elect Doug Doughtie
Email: doughdoughtie@yahoo.com; Phone: 252.216.9898