Sheriff candidates debate issues
In the May primary, incumbent Fayette County Sheriff Gary D. Brownfield Sr. will face off against political newcomer Robert “Ted” Pritchard. At a recent meeting with the Herald-Standard’s editorial board, Pritchard said he would make use of case law that gives the office the ability to conduct criminal investigations. Brownfield, a law enforcement veteran, said he would like to do so, but it is an impossibility given the budgetary and manpower constraints under which the office operates.
Both men are running as Democrats.
Pritchard said that having only four deputies in the office is “a joke” and suggested firing the three clerks in the office and having volunteers do the work. The money saved could be used to hire more deputies, he said.
“I think the sheriff’s office is in the 18th century,” Pritchard said.
Pritchard said he would patrol at night, going into bars to find already intoxicated patrons who are being served in an effort to prevent drunken driving accidents.
“I don’t have the classes he took, and the experience he (has), but I can tell you one thing: you can walk down the street on a cool summer night without being afraid of being accosted” if I’m elected, Pritchard said.
Pritchard said he would instruct his deputies to give out citations in hope that some of the money would come back to the sheriff’s office.
“He had eight years to do this,” Pritchard said, noting that he believes Brownfield should have utilized his law enforcement experience to run a more police-like office.
With 30 years as a state police trooper and a plethora of experience investigating criminal matters, Brownfield said he could run a full-time investigative department, but financially that is not possible.
Brownfield said that budgetary constraints stop him from being able to enforce laws. He noted that the state police funnel about $25 million into the Uniontown barracks, which is responsible for patrolling a great portion of the county. With the county’s budget at $21 million, Brownfield said there just isn’t enough money to hire more deputies without raising taxes.
“I’ve tried to get more deputies,” he said. “The money’s just not available.”
Pritchard said he believes he can find grants to hire extra deputies.
Brownfield said he’s used the county’s grant writer to check into any applicable grants for the office, but few apply.
“They’ll give you the money if you make them give you the money,” Pritchard said.
During his tenure as sheriff, Brownfield said courthouse security has improved, noting that there are scanners at the front entrance, additional cameras and employees who use the back entrance must use hand scanners to enter and exit the building. Additionally, Brownfield said all employees have identification tags that they must wear.
He said that a representative from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) came to the courthouse and praised it as being secure.
Pritchard said he does not believe that the courthouse is that secure. He noted that several years ago he used to see people coming in the downstairs entrance, which is supposed to be for employees only.
“Someone could get in there and assassinate a row officer,” Pritchard said, noting he would institute using hand scanners at the entrance of each courtroom.
Brownfield said the biggest challenge facing the sheriff’s office is the ever-increasing workload.
“We try to do the best job we can with what we have,” he said, noting that the office is in need of new computers.
If elected, Pritchard vowed to instill professionalism in the office and criticized Brownfield’s marriage to an office employee.
His wife, Fran Brownfield, is the office manager, and was employed in the office long before Brownfield took office.
The county’s handbook does not restrict the employment of relatives, and indicates that new hires cannot work for or directly supervise relatives.
“If the relative relationship is established after employment, the employee is responsible to notify human resources, and the situation will be addressed on a case-by-case basis,” the handbook policy reads.
County human resources manager Jim Moore said the Brownfields notified him once they were married, and noted that the policy does not prohibit spouses from working together.
“As far as I’m concerned, the sheriff and his wife have complied with the policy,” Moore said.
Pritchard said, however, that the relationship had the potential to cause problems, and he would not have involved himself with an employee in that way.
Brownfield, first sworn in as sheriff in 2000, said he made the office into “one of the most-efficient and cost-effective” row offices in the county.
Brownfield said he has completely computerized his office and has increased the number of civil services provided through the office, including service of protection-from-abuse orders. In addition, he said his office has served more bench warrants “than in the last century” since he took office.
Additionally, he has transported 5,277 prisoners more than 400,000 miles.
Last year, Brownfield said the near-daily transporting of prisoners from the county prison to state prisons saved the county about $240,000 in cell rental. The swelling county prison population has, in the past, required the county to rent prison cells from other county prisons to house prisoners.
Brownfield said he has tried to help eliminate or limit the necessity of housing prisoners out of the county by having his deputies make frequent trips to transport prisoners doing state time to those facilities.
This year, the quick turnaround time in transporting prisoners has not necessitated housing any inmates in other counties’ prisons, Brownfield said.
Brownfield also said he established an all-volunteer search and rescue team of about 175 people who respond to different emergency situations in the area.
Brownfield said volunteers from the search and rescue team have visited more than 6,000 children in the county as part of the Hug-A-Tree program through the office. The program teaches children what to do if they are lost.
Additionally, he said he is starting a drug awareness program that will help parents identify signs of drug use in children.