Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Wanda Younger, candidate for Arlington County Sheriff.

I retired from the Arlington Sheriff’s Office in 2020 as a Lieutenant and Director of Pretrial Services with 31 years of ethical service. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Administration (earned with highest honors) with numerous advanced leadership training to include training through the F.B.I. and International Association of Chiefs of Police.

I have been an Arlingtonian for nearly 30 years, and I care deeply about our community. My platform is comprehensive and for the past four months I have spear-headed specific solution sets to target three issues: detainee health, community safety, and Sheriff’s Office staff retention and employment practices.

With regard to detainee health, I have studied the protocols and standard of care in our local emergency rooms; these are the gold standard. I will work with our County Board and State Legislators to provide mental health care and medical services to our detainees staffed with physicians and support staff live, onsite 24 hours a day. This model emulates the best practices in our emergency rooms and can be the standard of care within our detention facility.

The purchase of 10 biometric units for $10,000 per annum is simply not enough logistically nor operationally. The biometric units are alert devices only akin to the monitors placed on a patient in the emergency room – human intervention is required and must be onsite to handle the response to any alerts.

With regard to community safety, I will reinvigorate the Auxiliary Deputy Sheriff program to assist in providing positive mentorship to our youth within the Arlington public schools and increase both community and school safety. There is a middle ground between private security officers and school resource officers – and that viable middle ground is trained, vetted, polygraphed Auxiliary Deputies. This Auxiliary force will be able to free full-time deputies who can then assist the Arlington County Police Department with community policing functions.

With regard to the employment practices of our Sheriff’s Deputies, I will completely revamp the premise of the employer-employee contract, doing away with the old and antiquated at-will employment of our deputies. This at-will employment of our deputies goes against all modern public policies, stifles innovation and dissention, and prevents the reporting of breaches of our standard operating procedures.

I have put out short, concise videos on my social media (www.wandaforsheriff.com) to address these solutions and provide an extensive information base and reasonings for Arlington voters. I have addressed the solution sets for school safety, which as a mother and grandmother, I find troubling. Children are scared to go into the bathrooms in some of our high schools, fearing assault. I have focused on the mental health crisis here in Arlington, which I fuse with detainee health issues. Also, I have addressed the issues of employment practices within the Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff is not simply a caretaker of the jail and court as the Acting Sheriff believes. The Sheriff is not just a cop. She is a rehabilitator, a caretaker, and most importantly – a policy maker. Being a self-limiting Sheriff restricts the role of the Sheriff’s Office and demeans the historical context of this Constitutional Office. The Sheriff is the highest Law Enforcement Officer of the Constitution and is responsible for the Constitutional Rights of every citizen. True fundamental change to policies requires the re-thinking of the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office from the ground up.

In summary, the key differences between the other candidates and myself are that we have fundamental differences in education, experience, ethics, and worldview. I have the solution sets to make the lives of the community, Sheriff’s Office staff, and detainees better.

It’s time for Real Progress in Arlington!

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from James Herring, candidate for Arlington County Sheriff.

“Number of years of experience” – anyone who has applied for a job has seen these words and sat there mentally calculating a number to put down. In running for Sheriff, I have been questioned about my experience in a similar manner. In the case of my opponents, their years in office as middle-to-high-ranking deputies have been in a dysfunctional agency that’s unable to meet minimum standards of care for inmates, loses competent deputies, and has minimal connection to the community.

I am the only Sheriff’s Office outsider – and the Office needs a leader from outside now more than ever. Communities across the country are voicing ways that law enforcement needs to change, then electing those with decades of experience in the same system and expecting different results. I decided to run for the same reason I decided to join the police: I want to serve my community and help people. I entered this race after hearing and seeing (during my time as an Arlington Police Officer) the way those in our custody and the deputies providing their care have been mismanaged; it’s time Arlingtonians were made aware of the situation.

There have been eight in-custody deaths in the last ten years. These deaths have different circumstances, but one commonality: the Sheriff’s Office did not provide adequate care. Even after the most recently- concluded investigation, information has been withheld from the public on what (if anything) is being done to prevent deaths from occuring in the future. In addition to providing poor medical and mental health services, the jail’s low staffing levels mean that inmates are perpetually on lockdown; defense attorneys have approached me and expressed exasperation that this makes it extremely difficult to meet with their clients. This results in cases being continued unnecessarily, and people being held in jail longer – simply because the Sheriff has not prioritized their 6th Amendment rights. This means victims and defendants have to wait longer for their day in court; witnesses, attorneys, and judges have to constantly rearrange their schedule for a trial that could have long-since concluded, and the taxpayers have to foot the bill for someone whose outcome is needlessly deferred. This is unacceptable.

It is time we stop looking at how long someone has been doing the job, and instead look at what they’ve been doing with the job. My entire career has been in public service since the age of 18. I served in the Virginia National Guard for eight years, where I safely guided soldiers at the platoon level during an overseas deployment and acted as an executive officer for a light infantry company – learning how to lead as well as how to serve. I have trained rookie police officers on what it means to be a good cop for your community. I have been a police officer for nearly ten years, during which time I have learned patience and compassion for those who are likely having one of the worst days of their lives, and I have come to recognize they will continue to have those issues if we do not do everything we can to help them while they are in our care.

(more…)