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The March 17 primary
election is right around the corner. Expect the contest for
Lucas County Sheriff to be very spirited where community
advocate and Public Safety official Earl Mack, Oregon Police
Chief Mike Navarre and Toledo City Councilman Gary Johnson
are among the favorites in a crowded field of competent
candidates.
If elected, Mack would
become the first African-American sheriff in Lucas County.
He brings a wealth of law enforcement experience, community
relationships and passion.
I was happy to have Mack
sit down with me to discuss his candidacy.
Perryman:
Tell me a little bit about your experience.
Mack: I have 39 years’
experience in law enforcement, including serving as a police
officer with the University of Toledo. I have also been a
Liquor Enforcement Agent, Field Supervisor and
Agent-In-Charge – all with the Ohio Department of Liquor
Control. Then, in 2007, I was appointed by Governor Ted
Strickland as Deputy Director of the Ohio Department of
Public Safety, Division of Ohio Homeland Security. I was
also a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint
Terrorism Task Force Executive Board. Currently I am the
owner and Security Director for Key Resource Protection and
Investigations, licensed by the Ohio Department of Public
Safety and ride my Harley-Davidson all over the country.
Perryman: What led you to
enter law enforcement?
Mack:
As a child, there was a fire station that use to be located
at the corner of Indiana and 15th up the street from where I
lived in the Port Lawrence Homes. One day I decided to run
away from home because I was upset at my father and mother
fighting one another.
I walked to what we then
called the “Fire House” and saw this very tall black man,
dressed in black, with a large badge on his chest, wearing a
black holster with a gun, a long brownish club and keys
hanging from his side, later learning he was a policeman.
I remember crying as I stood there looking at the policeman
and several firefighters. One was sitting in this big red
firetruck, that had a ladder on the side, with the door
opened. The policeman asked, "boy, what is wrong with you
and where do you live?" After trying to tell the policeman
about the fight my father and mother were having, he walked
me back home and spoke with both of them. He then came over
to me as I sat on the couch and said, "everything is Ok,"
and shook my hand.
A few days later, as I was playing outside, a black and
white police car stopped in front of my home. This police
officer was seated in the front passenger side. He motioned
me over to the car and shook my hand as he asked, "is
everything Ok?" I thought this was so cool. From then on,
I watched all the police shows I could on our black and
white television and would play the police roles I had
watched, putting two or four chairs in the middle of the
floor to simulate a police car.
Perryman: The next County
Sheriff will have to be someone who can manage the jail’s
operations well and understand how to get its $33 million
annual budget under control.
Mack: Yes, $36, 360,000 to be
exact.
Perryman: They have had
some budget challenges, particularly how to keep
skyrocketing overtime expenses under control. They have
several past and pending lawsuits, including wrongful death
and other civil issues. Do you have plans to get this budget
under control and if so, how?
Mack: I haven’t yet seen
their internal records, but as I did in my Homeland Security
position, the first thing I plan to do is perform a
financial and operational assessment to determine how things
are being done versus how things should be done and decide
the things that are or are not needed. I am a big believer
of consolidation of services in order to free up dollars and
to make us more efficient.
Perryman: Current Lucas
County Sheriff John Tharp has said that the conditions in
the current jail are “inhumane” and a safety issue for both
inmates and staff. A new 21st century facility
would cost somewhere around $200 million. Therefore, someone
has to lead the conversation to build a new jail around how
to fund it and where to build it. What are your thoughts?
Mack: As far as location, the
voters have already spoken. You can’t shove something down
the throats of the voters and think that they are going to
support you. But I would sit down with the Lucas County
Commissioners, the voters and others in order to dialog
about funding and location, something I have not yet been a
part of.
Perryman: I think that
Tharp, the county commissioners and others (thanks to $3
million in grants from the MacArthur Foundation) have done a
decent job in eliminating some of the over-crowding at the
downtown jail. But, to many, terms like “law and order” or
“law enforcement” still carry a racial subtext. Statistics
indicate that nearly 57 percent of those held in the Lucas
County Jail are African American. The truth is, that we have
not yet admitted the degree of bias and racism in our local
criminal justice system. We need to continue to reduce the
jail population by offering alternative solutions to
incarceration and eliminate the criminalization of poverty
where we jail defendants for minor offenses and failure to
pay fines or bail, but we also need to do something about
reducing the racial disparities in the jail population. Your
thoughts?
Mack: Well, obviously, what
populates the jail is criminal activity. There are some
reforms taking place now. You’re right, we need to look at
who we are housing in the jail. Do we keep a person for a
minor charge that can’t afford their bond? And some of those
we lock up are found not guilty in a trial. So, as a result,
we’ve spent all these tax dollars needlessly multiplied by
hundreds or thousands of instances.
Another thing to look at,
and I think a lot of people often miss, is that we have to
look at behavior. We have always talked about how people
need a job. And you do need a job to sustain a family. And
so I would look at some of the things that we do as members
of Buffalo Soldiers. We have interaction with our children
and try to make sure that we have a positive influence on
children and families. There is a mom that is working three
jobs trying to feed her family. Why is that?
We also need to make
fathers more responsible but we need to do all we can to
keep families together as a unit. So, we need to look at how
we raise our children, how we influence our children and how
to find or create opportunities for our children. When we
start changing their behavior, and this community starts
coming together collaboratively, the jail population will
start dropping. And that’s what needs to happen.
Perryman: If your campaign
is successful, you would be the first African-American
sheriff in Lucas County. That would certainly leave a
positive message to those coming behind us.
Mack: Well, I can tell you
this. The sheriff is the top law enforcement officer in the
county. A police chief is appointed but the sheriff is
elected. So, if you have any complaints about what is or
what is not being done by law enforcement, you should go to
the sheriff because that person is obligated to take a look
at the issue. Most people are not aware of this.
Perryman: Good Luck and
thanks for stopping by.
Mack: Thank you.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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