Law enforcement veterans seek nod for Greene County sheriff - Daily Reflector
A pair of veteran law-enforcement officers are vying for the Democratic party’s nomination to replace longtime Greene County Sheriff Lemmie Smith.
Matt Sasser and Jason Tyndall will face each other in the May 17 Democratic primary. The winner will face Republican challenger James Harper in November. Early voting for the primary starts today.
Smith retired after a 28-year stint as the sheriff in February. Sasser, the chief deputy under Smith, was appointed by the Greene County Board of Commissioners as the interim sheriff in March.
Sasser has been with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office for the past 15 years. He started as a deputy and went on to serve as a lieutenant, a major and chief deputy. “Over the years, I have supervised all aspects of the sheriff’s office. I know the ins and outs of the office,” he said.
Before joining law enforcement, Sasser worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) and a firefighter. “I have always had a strong urge to help people over the years and that is our goal as law enforcement, to help people,” he said.
Tyndall began his law enforcement career in 2003 when he joined the Stantonsburg Police Department. Later that year he joined the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. “On my 21st birthday in 2003, I accepted a position at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. I worked there three years before moving to the Farmville Police Department,” Tyndall said.
After two years with the Farmville police, Tyndall was promoted to supervisor where he remained throughout his employment. “I filled many roles such as narcotics investigator, criminal detective, SRO supervisor, and community outreach officer while at the Farmville Police Department. I also obtained my Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate due to the training I have received during my career. That training included multiple instructor certifications which I use to teach in-service training,” Tyndall said.
In 2019, Tyndall left Farmville and accepted a job with the Vidant Police Department, where he currently serves.
When asked to describe his approach to leading the sheriff’s office, Sasser said, “I would never ask anybody to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. I believe in jumping in and helping right along with your folks, not just standing to the side and watching. That is my approach.”
Tyndall described a similar approach saying, “I operate under the servant style of leadership because I feel that the people that work for me should feel personally and professionally fulfilled. When they are, I feel that they provide better services to the community we serve.”
Tyndall expressed concern about turnover at the department. “I feel that the sheriff’s office is having trouble retaining well-trained deputies. This means the citizens suffer from lack of coverage while the sheriff’s office remains understaffed.” He continued, “At the candidate forum, we heard the sheriff’s office has 24 sworn positions and 10 of those positions were currently vacant. This led to a lack of coverage from SROs in our schools and deputies on our streets.”
When asked to explain the cause of the low retention rate, Sasser said, “Retention has been an issue not just with our agency, but with most of the county’s agencies. The pandemic has impacted us as well as the latest national incidents involving law enforcement officers that do end up impacting us here locally. As law enforcement, we are indirectly affected because those incidents set the tone for how people may feel about us. I want to show the people of this county that we are here to help people. It’s not just about locking people up, we are also here to unlock your car door, or stand by you in a funeral procession,” he said.
Tyndall suggested one of the ways to improve trust between law enforcement and county residents is to increase community programming. “I want to bring back community events and programs. I want people in the community to get to know our deputies. I also want to raise our citizens’ awareness and let them know that we are working together to improve their quality of life,” he said.
The two candidates share a similar philosophy when it comes to addressing drug offenses in the county. During the March candidate forum, they said the biggest crime-related problem facing the county is drug offenses. Both agreed that the problem must be handled using a multi-pronged approach.
“Unfortunately, we have to show offenders that there are consequences for the bad decisions they have made,” Tyndall said. “We have to show drug dealers that there are consequences for poisoning our vulnerable family members. With that being said, what can we do to fight recidivism? I want to work with the community and faith-based programs to give support to individuals that are looking to leave addiction behind.”
Sasser said he would be open to using any strategy that proved successful to prevent these offenses. “The thing with drugs is, there are multiple approaches that you can use to address it. I’m not just looking for one particular answer, I’m looking for anything that anybody can bring to the table that is going to assess that. So far, I have been reaching out to the surrounding counties as well as the SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) to help us with that.
“We’ve had some personnel issues which we’ve got to address because we cannot solve the problem if we don’t have the deputies to do it.”
In the meantime, Sasser said one of the benefits of having him at the head of the office is his relationships with other police departments and sheriff’s offices who could offer assistance while the office is understaffed.
source: https://www.reflector.com/standard/news/local/law-enforcement-veterans-seek-nod-for-greene-county-sheriff/article_beb4487b-f201-5294-91d2-94373db1aac7.html
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