Earlier this summer, the Post asked our readers what issues you wanted to hear candidates in contested races address leading up to the Nov. 5. election.
Based on that feedback, we developed a five-item questionnaire centering the issues most important to residents across Johnson County.
Each day this week, we’ll publish the candidates’ responses to one question. Read the candidates’ responses to the previous question about the budget, collaboration and collegiality, officer-involved shootings and staffing.
Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
Readers express alarm over the continued frequency of drug-related crimes, some prominent cases of which have involved teenagers in drug deals that have ended in violence. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office currently oversees a multi-jurisdictional task force meant specifically to go after the sale and use of illegal drugs in northeast Kansas. But there have been concerns that that task force is not as effective or as active as it could be. If elected, what would be your approach to investigating illegal drugs? How, if at all, would you employ the current task force model?
Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on the issue:
Doug Bedford (Republican)
While I was Undersheriff at the Sheriff’s Office, the Northeast Kansas Drug Task Force was created. This is an amazing group of detectives working tirelessly to remove narcotics from out city streets.
There are currently 17 police agencies in Johnson County, with only one agency participating in the Drug Task Force (Shawnee Police Department). As Sheriff, I look forward to visiting with the Chiefs of Police, to work on rebuilding fractured relationships, but to also work toward better participation with the drug unit.
I believe the crime issues in Johnson County start with our area’s narcotics problems, with the I-35 Highway a corridor of narcotics trafficking in the Midwest. If the Sheriff’s Office and city police agencies work cohesively together to resolve this issue, together we will reduce the crime and drug problems in our county.
Byron Roberson (Democratic)
The Johnson County Drug Task Force failed under the leadership of my opponent and outgoing Sheriff Calvin Hayden, who my opponent served as second-in-command.
The sheriff’s office created the task force in a vacuum inside their organization and then rolled it out to the 17 different policing agencies in Johnson County. Because of the lack of confidence in how the task force would be led and the total disregard of input from the jurisdictions that were asked to participate with manpower and assets, only one agency signed on to be a part of the group.
As the VP of the Johnson County Chiefs and Sheriff’s Association, I have a strong working relationship with every chief of police in the county. I am confident I would be able to garner their support on a task force that addressed all of our needs. Drug crimes are definitely a serious problem in Johnson County. To make the task force successful, it needs new leadership that only I can bring.
