-The following is part of WIZS’s continuing coverage of the Nov. 8 election.

Patrick Bailey says his experience in the private sector, coupled with his training and background in law enforcement make him the candidate to vote for in the upcoming race for Vance County Sheriff.

WIZS aired Monday morning a recorded but unedited interview with the Republican candidate for sheriff, during which time he and John C. Rose discussed issues facing the community and how Bailey will address them if he’s elected.

Bailey prioritized combatting the drug issue, increased training for sheriff’s office staff and beefing up administration within the sheriff’s office.

“I see where the problems are, (and) I know what needs to be done,” he said. “I know where the issues are and I have a plan for achieving the goals I’m setting,” he added.

Illegal Drug Activity

“Drugs is my number one focus once I become sheriff,” Bailey reiterated. “It’s a very big problem, not just in this county, but in the state as well.”

He said he would organize a drug unit within the sheriff’s office to try to eliminate drug sales, especially in locations where such illegal activities are known – by the community and by law enforcement personnel – to take place.

“We need a certain aggressive effort to curb the sale of fentanyl and heroin in this county,’ he said, which would help to stop deadly overdoses and reduce the supply of illegal drugs that comes into the county.

Shutting down so-called “drug houses” and making arrests will be first steps toward creating safer communities for residents who have expressed their concerns to Bailey. Getting undercover officers to make drug buys is the first step in making arrests, swearing out search warrants and getting convictions.

But Bailey said he would advocate for a community clean-up program “to eliminate these houses altogether.”

He also would support collaboration with mental health professionals to help those with substance abuse problems get the help they need to get them off the drugs, “rather than just sending them to prison.”

Bailey said he would focus first on drug activity within the county before he branches out to include the interstates and highways with a drug interdiction team, but that is something he would implement as sheriff.

Administration

Bailey said the county needs a change in law enforcement structure, both to improve recruitment and retention of qualified personnel for the sheriff’s office and to deal with other ongoing challenges.

A certified law enforcement instructor, Bailey said training is key to having deputies perform their duties at the highest possible level.

He has a degree in criminal justice, and he said he would make sure that his staff got more than

The minimum mandatory in-service training requirements to keep them “up to speed” with what is happening within the county.

“I certainly feel like I am capable,” Bailey said of running the sheriff’s office. He said he would work to get recruitment and retention programs in place so the Vance County Sheriff’s Office would be an agency where employees want to come to work every day.
“I want morale to be very high,” he said.

He left the field of law enforcement for a career in private business, and he said he gained valuable experience in areas of management and finance that will serve him well as sheriff.

“I know how to balance a budget, and to see that it’s utilized in the best possible way it can be,” Bailey said.

Bailey was critical of the way that the current administration has dealt with a situation involving three members of the sheriff’s office who have been suspended with pay for almost two years following their indictment on felony charges.

“It’s costing our taxpayers roughly a little over $300,000,” he said.

They should have been put on unpaid suspension until the situation was resolved, he said.

“You have to have a plan with how you’re going to deal with any and all situations, and you follow that scenario regardless of what the charge is.”

Full Audio Interview