Three face off for Callaway County sheriff

Three candidates with law enforcement experience are seeking the Republican nomination for Callaway County sheriff on the Aug. 2 ballot.

The three candidates fielded a variety questions about the office they seek.

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Eric Wall and Courtney Nosari

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Alison and Chuck Hitt

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Mitch, Serena and Kate Bueche

What makes you the best sheriff's race candidate?

Chism: I bring 16 years of full-time experience at the sheriff's office to the table. I understand all the operations of the sheriff's office. I understand the community and the law-enforcement needs of the community. This is my community; I'm a life-long Callaway County resident.

Hammann: My diversity in experience. I've done management in the military, I supervised a mail room there and dealt with secret documents and security documents. I'm the police chief in New Bloomfield, where I supervise six officers.

Anderson: My combined experience, education and the type of person I am. I'm very open, very people oriented. I love and enjoy people, interacting with people. I can communicate with anybody and talk to anybody. Very good at de-escalating high-stress situations because of my experience handling people.

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Why did you decide to run?

Hammann: To make a change in Callaway County. I've heard different stories from people in the community about how they want to reduce property crimes and get warrants drawn in. I've always wanted to make a difference. I lost both of my siblings; my sister was killed by a drunk driver, and my brother committed suicide. That's what drove me into law enforcement. I served on the board for suicide prevention, and I speak a lot with MADD because those are two things I feel very passionately about.

Anderson: I think we need a difference made in the department. There's a lot of things that need to be addressed, and I've had a lot of citizens ask me to run. I want to do something good for my community since I've already had 24 years for the city of Fulton.

Chism: I've had the desire to run for sheriff for several years. I've taken personal and professional steps to prepare myself for the office of sheriff. The most recent step was obtaining my master's degree in criminal justice administration. I have not only 16 years of experience, but also an advanced level of education and law enforcement training.

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What is your campaign message?

Chism: My desire is to promote professional and efficient law enforcement service throughout the county while understanding the constraints of available resources and staff.

Anderson: I'm going to stand up for your rights and respect your rights. My main focus for the department is to reduce response times and reduce crime rates of all crimes.

Hammann: I'm running on change and making a difference in the county. There's been a rift between law enforcement and the community for some time. I've been working with community groups to improve those relationships.

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How would you assess the current operation of the Callaway County Sheriff's Office?

Anderson: Response times need to come down. The reason why it's up so high could be multiple reasons. Some of it's lack of attitude, meaning their attitude about service to the public. Some could be lack of training or lack of policies in place. Positives: I think the Mustang (drug) program works well. I've supported Mustang since its inception. The jail is running pretty well, it seems. The good points probably just need to be tweaked.

Chism: I believe the sheriff's office is on a pretty solid foundation. The last three sheriffs each served 16 years, which is telling. Our agency presents numerous misdemeanor and felony cases to the prosecutor that are filed and result in criminal convictions. The agency works tirelessly with the county commission to operate efficiently within fiscal constraints, most years operating under the allotted budget. That being said, there's always room for improvement. I've been stereotyped by some as being the in-house candidate who will not make changes. I am more than willing to make changes as necessary. I will assess internal controls and procedures, and if I deem changes necessary, I will make them without hesitation.

Hammann: I think overall, they're doing a fairly good job. But if you look at the statistics and the number of warrants issued, there's approximately 2,068 warrants. The sheriff's office is understaffed, and the lieutenant there has already said the zoning isn't working as it's designed. I want to get that staff number increased, and I want deputies on different shifts. I want them to get assigned to the south, and I want the zoning to work. The only way to run a good response is to run it all over the county.

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What changes would you implement?

Chism: I would certainly assess current case management practices and consider alternative resources to ensure case follow up is handled efficiently.

Hammann: I want to work with the community leaders and business owners to reduce property crime. I want to start as many neighborhood watches as I can. I want to bring a citizen's review board to the county, so that way, citizens have some sort of input into the county office.

Anderson: I would do a management evaluation of all positions in the department and put more deputies on the road. I and the chief deputy would try to work the road as much as possible. I also definitely want to look at the equipment and get people trained on (non-lethal weapons).

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What do you think people don't understand about the office but should?

Anderson: The sheriff is the top law-enforcement person in the county; they have the power and authority to stand up to all people for your rights as a citizen. That's the concept of a sheriff.

Hammann: A lot of citizens in Callaway County haven't had to deal with either law enforcement or the Sheriff's Office. Auxvasse has its own police department. Holts Summit has its own, Fulton has its own. If the Sheriff's Office was more involved with the municipalities, I think people would be more aware with how the county is operating.

Chism: The call load is tremendous. We're currently averaging 17,000 calls for service annually. Geography is a huge barrier when you only have two or three deputies on duty to cover 842 square miles. Response times will inherently be lengthy if a deputy is not in the immediate area of the call when it's received.

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What is the biggest public safety issue in Callaway County, and how would you deal with it?

Hammann: I think violent crime of any nature is increasing, whether it be domestic violence, violence through property crimes, robbery, burglary. I want to see more operation in the outskirts of the county.

Anderson: The response time. We need to bring our response time down. If you have a situation in your home and you need to contain it, an ideal situation is for a deputy to be out in 20 minutes or less. Even 20 minutes is a long time to try and contain a situation and not have someone get hurt.

Chism: Fortunately, we do not have a tremendous amount of violent crime. As with any rural county, we are plagued with drugs and property crimes. These two crimes go hand-in-hand as drug users steal property. Deputy presence is key; however, we do have budget constraints and a staffing level that doesn't provide for several deputies to be on duty at the same time.

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Do the major highways (U.S. 54 and Interstate 70) create unique challenges for the Sheriff's Office? What are they, and how would you deal with them?

Chism: Having several major highways through the county brings in a criminal element that doesn't reside here. Offenses in Kingdom City are being committed by criminals passing through (armed robberies and vehicle thefts). Especially I-70 brings a criminal element.

Anderson: I'd say yes and no. In some ways they're an asset. With the 54, you can get your deputies quicker from north to south. Drug trafficking on major highways is always a major struggle. Illegal movement of persons and items is the same thing. The positive though is to get you there faster.

Hammann: I think they do present challenges, because you get a lot of traffic from those highways. Building relationships between highway patrol and the municipalities are important to get mutual aid agreements, so if something happens on the highway and the county's tied up, you can bring in more officers for assistance.

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How do you plan to communicate and interact with other law enforcement agencies, first responders and the media?

Hammann: When you build cooperation within the departments and disseminate information as needed, it's going to be one of my priorities to do that. We all have to work together.

Chism: We have outstanding relationships now with other law enforcement agencies. I would strive to maintain those relationships. I have been the media officer for the last several years, and I believe we have a good relationship with the media. Citizens have to understand there are certain subjects we cannot discuss because we're bound by law. We are promoting our website, and in the future we may turn to social media; however, there are constraints to information. Sometimes the release of information jeopardizes an investigation. It's the integrity of the investigation that has to be preserved.

Anderson: My goal is to involve the chiefs of the three departments and encourage better rapport and cooperation between the agencies. Also getting with the highway patrol and making a better work environment. Other agencies, as far as fire departments and ambulances, is the same thing. As far as community, I want to sit down with community leaders as often as possible.

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Do you think the public's perception of law enforcement officers is on a negative trajectory?

Anderson: I think nationally, yes. I think locally, no. Everybody I've talked to while campaigning this time is still pro-law. They still want to support you and expect you to do your job. They want your job done fairly and consistently. They expect if they break the law to be handled, but they want to be handled with dignity and respect. To me the sheriff's department, or any law enforcement agency, is a customer service organization. That's the first basis, mutual respect.

Chism: Since the events that transpired in Ferguson a few years ago, we've had more residents than ever reach out and express appreciation. Where some communities are seeing protesting and tension, again, we've had people write us letters, buy meals for our deputies in restaurants anonymously and walk up and shake our hands.

Hammann: I think law enforcement has a negative connotation from the community right now. The public's perception has changed due to incidents that have happened around the country, whether it's Dallas, Ferguson or Minnesota. To change that, I think you have to sit down, let them know about forums. A sheriff's group has to be involved with every aspect of what's going on in the community in order to change those things. People will respect you and are willing to let law enforcement back in if they can trust you.