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"Both men say they will issue concealed weapons permits to any law-abiding citizen who asks"
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Published Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010
Jim Cooper insisted he is tougher on crime, while Scott Jones says he has found the money to get the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department helicopter regularly back into the air, maybe even before next month's election.
Both men say they will issue concealed weapons permits to any law-abiding citizen who asks, and both promise they will not support new taxes to boost the department's budget.
In a wide-ranging debate Wednesday on sacbee.com, the two candidates for Sacramento County sheriff squared off over who can best protect the public once Sheriff John McGinness retires.
And both agreed that the rest of the campaign should be waged without the negative attacks that marred the primary, although Jones contends that he has never attacked his opponent.
Neither would say whether he favored the incorporation effort in Arden Arcade, agreeing that it is up to the voters of that area, and both said they would stay in the department regardless of who wins the Nov. 2 election.
But they were hardly mirror images of each other.
Jones said he had a plan to get the department's helicopter, partially grounded because of budget cuts, back into the air soon using funds he has identified that come from vehicle licensing money provided to the department.
He also revealed that he plans to name current Undersheriff Mark Iwasa to stay in that post for a time if he is elected.
Cooper didn't address the helicopter issue and would not reveal whom he would appoint as undersheriff if he wins, but he made it clear that he believes his experience in the department is superior to his opponent's.
"That is the KEY issue and I am tougher on crime," Cooper wrote.
When asked to name what quality he most admires in Jones, Cooper was less than effusive.
"As a fellow law enforcement officer, I admire his commitment to public safety," he wrote.
Jones countered by saying he "absolutely (does) respect Jim's many years of undercover street work" and hopes to use his experience to combat crime.
The two men, both captains in the Sheriff's Department, faced more than 30 queries from readers and The Bee. Jones answered his writing at a computer in The Bee newsroom; Cooper responded via computer from an office elsewhere.
Both men have served as commanders of the county's Main Jail, and Cooper wrote that while there he created a suicide prevention task force.
"I was the first commander to implement training awareness for the staff in the area of suicide prevention," Cooper wrote. "Other agencies have since adopted my model."
Jones countered that he asked to take over the jail after Cooper's tenure and sharply reduced the number of claims and lawsuits against the department.
"...(W)hen my opponent was commander, we had 90 claims (for money damages) and 30 lawsuits, where I had 11 claims and seven lawsuits, because of my mind for risk management and keeping my eye on the ball with employee behavior," Jones wrote. "I set a very high standard of conduct for my employees, which I will carry over as sheriff ... ."
Both men said they wanted to conduct a full audit of the department to seek out cost savings, and both responded to Bee readers' concerns by saying they wanted to reinstate service centers that had been shut down during last year's budget cuts.
Jones and Cooper both said the addition of 50 deputies, to be paid for by a federal grant announced last month, will help.
"With the return of the 50 officers, it is not nearly as many as we need," Cooper wrote. "But I am committed to restoring service centers, targeted enforcement to improve the quality of life, and rebuilding the relationship between our officers and the community."
Jones said he believed in placing as many patrols into the community as possible.
"The crime fighting will come from placing the highest number of deputies on the street and giving them the tools they need (and the expectations) to get the job done," he wrote. "My job as sheriff is to ensure that happens by building relationships (based on mutual respect and trust) with my department, our community partners, residents and local electeds."
Jim Cooper insisted he is tougher on crime, while Scott Jones says he has found the money to get the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department helicopter regularly back into the air, maybe even before next month's election.
Both men say they will issue concealed weapons permits to any law-abiding citizen who asks, and both promise they will not support new taxes to boost the department's budget.
In a wide-ranging debate Wednesday on sacbee.com, the two candidates for Sacramento County sheriff squared off over who can best protect the public once Sheriff John McGinness retires.
And both agreed that the rest of the campaign should be waged without the negative attacks that marred the primary, although Jones contends that he has never attacked his opponent.
Neither would say whether he favored the incorporation effort in Arden Arcade, agreeing that it is up to the voters of that area, and both said they would stay in the department regardless of who wins the Nov. 2 election.
But they were hardly mirror images of each other.
Jones said he had a plan to get the department's helicopter, partially grounded because of budget cuts, back into the air soon using funds he has identified that come from vehicle licensing money provided to the department.
He also revealed that he plans to name current Undersheriff Mark Iwasa to stay in that post for a time if he is elected.
Cooper didn't address the helicopter issue and would not reveal whom he would appoint as undersheriff if he wins, but he made it clear that he believes his experience in the department is superior to his opponent's.
"That is the KEY issue and I am tougher on crime," Cooper wrote.
When asked to name what quality he most admires in Jones, Cooper was less than effusive.
"As a fellow law enforcement officer, I admire his commitment to public safety," he wrote.
Jones countered by saying he "absolutely (does) respect Jim's many years of undercover street work" and hopes to use his experience to combat crime.
The two men, both captains in the Sheriff's Department, faced more than 30 queries from readers and The Bee. Jones answered his writing at a computer in The Bee newsroom; Cooper responded via computer from an office elsewhere.
Both men have served as commanders of the county's Main Jail, and Cooper wrote that while there he created a suicide prevention task force.
"I was the first commander to implement training awareness for the staff in the area of suicide prevention," Cooper wrote. "Other agencies have since adopted my model."
Jones countered that he asked to take over the jail after Cooper's tenure and sharply reduced the number of claims and lawsuits against the department.
"...(W)hen my opponent was commander, we had 90 claims (for money damages) and 30 lawsuits, where I had 11 claims and seven lawsuits, because of my mind for risk management and keeping my eye on the ball with employee behavior," Jones wrote. "I set a very high standard of conduct for my employees, which I will carry over as sheriff ... ."
Both men said they wanted to conduct a full audit of the department to seek out cost savings, and both responded to Bee readers' concerns by saying they wanted to reinstate service centers that had been shut down during last year's budget cuts.
Jones and Cooper both said the addition of 50 deputies, to be paid for by a federal grant announced last month, will help.
"With the return of the 50 officers, it is not nearly as many as we need," Cooper wrote. "But I am committed to restoring service centers, targeted enforcement to improve the quality of life, and rebuilding the relationship between our officers and the community."
Jones said he believed in placing as many patrols into the community as possible.
"The crime fighting will come from placing the highest number of deputies on the street and giving them the tools they need (and the expectations) to get the job done," he wrote. "My job as sheriff is to ensure that happens by building relationships (based on mutual respect and trust) with my department, our community partners, residents and local electeds."
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