Sheriff's candidates return to patrol numbers in second debate

While touching on issues of medical marijuana dispensaries and illegal immigration prosecution, the Republican candidates for El Paso County Sheriff focused most of their energies and allotted minutes to promote their views on how to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the sheriff’s office at a debate Monday night.  

The issue provided a perfect battleground for Monument Police Chief Jake Shirk to promote himself as a newcomer with plans to improve the status quo and for Sheriff Terry Maketa to tout his background and crime prevention successes in his eight years in office.  About 75 people showed up for the debate, the candidates’ second this campaign season.     

Shirk criticized jail staffing for taking away patrol coverage the county needs.  He again promoted replacing deputies at the Criminal Justice Center with civilians to free up deputies for street patrol.  

The plan would put 12 more deputies on the streets, allowing for quicker response time without budget increases, Shirk said.  

It’s a plan that Maketa said won’t work. The sheriff’s office needs trained officers to operate systems such as the public information office, he said.  Shirk’s proposal to increase patrol by 20 percent is also unrealistic, he said.

“To increase patrol by 20 percent is $1.5 million, because you have to buy them computers, fuel, radios,” he said. “It’s like equipping soldiers, you have to have support.”

In the face of reduced budgets due to declining property taxes and restrictions on tax collection mandated by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, Maketa said that bolstering the sheriff’s staff would be unsustainable.  

Pointing to recent declines in homicide and assault, for example, he said he has the experience to effectively work within budget constraints that his opponent lacks.  

Shirk countered that he could put more deputies on patrol without seeking additional funds from voters by rearranging, downsizing and combining employees and programs.

The two candidates agreed on other issues, though they differed on how they would act.

Maketa said he supports the stringent immigration bill passed in Arizona and is actively working on similar legislation in Colorado.  

Shirk said he also supports the Arizona law, but said he would leave it up to the citizens to enact similar legislation in Colorado.  

Both men were personally opposed to medical marijuana dispensaries. Shirk cited the probability of increased crime with dispensaries. Maketa compared dispensaries to liquor stores, supporting them only if they were run well and with good intent.

As they head into the final weeks of campaigning before the Aug. 10 primary, both men said they would focus on knocking on doors and making phone calls to reach as many voters as possible around the county.  
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