Strong leadership at a pivotal time During the past seven years, the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department has had considerable growth and a renewed commitment to professional excellence. Julie Dijkstra has served as Sheriff Mike Books' chief deputy through this time, and the knowledge she has gained and leadership she has shown have prepared her for the task at hand. And this election will be important to preserve the continuity of leadership and ensure valuable programs continue and fresh ideas are implemented. Drugs Methamphetamine is inflicting our community with crime and environmental hazards. Julie believes police officers do their best work when they have strong leadership to guide them. To combat meth production, sale and use in Elkhart County, Julie proposes: • Working with local pharmacists and sellers of agricultural products to expand the tracking of important ingredients and use technology for immediate communication with law enforcement on suspicious activity. This will give officers important information to stay on top of drug makers and sellers. • Also, Julie will continue the long-standing commitment to the county's undercover investigative unit working through the prosecutor's office to investigate the dealers at their level. Criminal investigations and response • Julie led the sheriff's department to develop a statistical and predictive analysis of crimes. (To read more about how the process works, and the success so far, click here.) Julie will see to it this is continued so residents can have information to best protect themselves and repeat crimes are stopped sooner ... rather than later. • Julie will continue to use available funding for improvements in technology, making sure officers have the means to do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible. This, too, means working with the prosecutors, judges and others in the criminal justice system to ensure investigations are thorough and files are available quickly for review and adjudication. • Also in the area of technology, Julie will improve the department's Internet site to make it easier and more efficient for people to report basic crimes, increasing the availability of officers to respond to emergency situations. Corrections management A successful operation at the county corrections facility involves appropriate bed management. Julie will ensure all individuals needing to be in jail are kept in jail. But offenders who qualify for alternative programs, such as electronic monitoring, work programs and other community corrections efforts should have the chance to obtain employment and be productive in society while serving their penalty. Julie supports continuing the sound bed management practices she helped create as chief deputy, reducing overall liability and taxpayer responsibility. Programs for inmates Julie strongly supports the accomplishments of the current administration in creating programming with the long-term goal of reducing the number of repeat offenders. Success in programming will make the system more efficient and improve the quality of life for all Elkhart County residents. • She will continue to use evidence-based methods to monitor programs, supporting the efforts that are proven to work and redirecting funds from those that don't. • As a Christian who serves as an elder in her church, she supports faith-based initiatives to offer inmates hope in ways they previously may never have considered. • As a leader who understands the importance of this issue to the financial and social health of the community, she will work every day to make sure individuals who want to help themselves have the opportunity. Employment and legal issues Since 1993, Julie has been involved in the sheriff's department administration. She understands the importance of hiring quality individuals and keeping them up-to-date on training to reduce risk of injury and threats of litigation. Her experience, her established relationships with judges, prosecutors and other officials, and her training as a certified paralegal make her the most qualified candidate for sheriff on these types of issues. And more ... As chief deputy, Julie manages the day-to-day operations of the sheriff's department. When a decision needs to be made, officers and staff look to her for direction. Julie is well versed in so many issues, it's impossible to detail each one. As the primary election of May 2010 gets closer, questions on many topics will be posed to the candidates — and Julie will be prepared to answer each one and deliver continuity on the successes of the past seven years. If you have a question about the issues listed above or any others, email her and she will respond.