Former deputies cite experience, seek county sheriff’s position

No matter which button voters push in the primary election for county sheriff, they can be assured of getting a candidate who is more than passingly familiar with the office.

Each of three candidates on the ballot is a former sheriff’s office deputy, and each has served about 28 years there.

Dennis Hammer and John Resman, both of Olathe, and Calvin Hayden of Gardner are running to replace current Sheriff Frank Denning, who will retire this year.

All three mention their experience in the office as a plus for voters. In addition, Hayden is a former member of the County Commission.

Hammer said he grew up with the office because his father, Bill, is also a former deputy. “I’m passionate about the place,” he said.

If elected, Hammer said, he would support keeping the office elected, rather than appointed by the County Commission. That issue has come up from time to time with the commission that reviews the county’s charter and a couple of years ago after a County Commission-requested audit of the sheriff’s office budget.

He also would continue to hire deputies as dispatch and jail personnel, rather than using civilians, he said, because deputies can do a better job.

Hammer said he’d like to see more community outreach from the department. “I run into so many people in Johnson County who don’t even realize there is a sheriff’s office,” he said.

He said he supports getting mentally ill people the help they need to keep them out of jail, and he would like to see a program that would help inmates get high school equivalency studies completed once they’re released. Inmates often study during incarceration but are not able to finish once released, he said.

Hayden also said he supports keeping deputies in dispatch and at the jail because they are career oriented and it will save the county money in the long run. And he approves of efforts now to keep the mentally ill out of jail by sending a mental health professional responder on police calls, as the county is now doing.

If elected, Hayden said, he’d like to see more outreach to the community to increase the diversity in the sheriff’s ranks. The sheriff’s department should reflect the diversity of Johnson County, he said.

One way to increase the office’s visibility and help recruit deputies would be to get involved in Olathe High School’s new public safety education program, he said.

Helping at that class can “give a realistic outlook on what the career entails. A lot of times people don’t have a realistic outlook and you lose them because it’s just not what they expected,” he said.

He also said he’d pursue a good relationship with police departments in the county.

Resman also cited his experience with a variety of sheriff’s department jobs as a reason he’s running. He served on the Metro Squad, the Officer Involved Shooting team, as well as the computer forensic and sexual predator units.

He said keeping the office of sheriff elected rather than appointed was one of his prime concerns. “It should be kept intact the way it is. I don’t believe we need to make any changes,” he said.

Keeping the department’s budget intact when cuts threaten is another of Resman’s concerns. He said the department has good fiscal management practices that should continue. Also, with recruitment difficult and some retirements coming up, he said he’d focus his efforts on getting and retaining new officers.

Resman also supports maintaining deputies in dispatch and the jail. The lower pay would make it even more difficult to recruit people for those jobs in a year in which new recruits have become harder to find, he said.

If elected, Resman said he doesn’t immediately see any big changes he’d make. “The sheriff’s office isn’t broken,” he said.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 10:18 AM with the headline "Former deputies cite experience, seek county sheriff’s position."