TOLEDO, Ohio — Unofficial results show that Democrat Mike Navarre has been elected as the new Lucas County Sheriff, replacing Sheriff John Tharp.
Tharp, who has served Lucas County for more than six years, announced last year that he would not seek re-election.
Navarre served as Toledo police chief for 13 years before becoming Oregon's police chief for the last eight years.
As community-police relations grow as a top priority for Americans and residents in Lucas County, Navarre has said he has been an advocate for meaningful police reform for the better part of the last decade.
Navarre has also served on the Ohio Task Force on Community-Police Relations, created by former Gov. John Kasich in 2014.
Race coverage: Where each candidate stands
Published on Oct. 25, 2020
After choosing among six candidates during the primary election, Lucas County voters will now decide among three nominees to serve as their new sheriff.
Sheriff John Tharp announced in 2019 he will not seek re-election, following more than six years as Lucas County sheriff, leaving the position up for grabs.
WTOL 11 caught up with Independent candidate Earl Mack, Democrat Mike Navarre and Republican Brett Warner so you can learn about their positions on different issues before casting your ballot.
RELATED: Top Toledo/Lucas County issues and open positions voters will see on the November 2020 ballot
Community issues
People in Toledo and several other communities across the country went to the streets to protest police brutality earlier this year after the video of George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police emerged. On May 30, dozens of protesters left downtown Toledo after violence erupted.
After calling for police accountability, protesters in the Glass City were disappointed after getting hit with tear gas, rubber bullets and wooden pellets.
So what are the plans the candidates have to address community trust issues in a time when there is so much animosity toward police?
Mike Navarre, who served as Toledo police chief for 13 years before becoming Oregon's police chief, said he has been an advocate for meaningful police reform for the better part of the last decade.
He also served on the Ohio Task Force on Community-Police Relations, created by former Gov. John Kasich in 2014.
"I was the only chief of police in the state of Ohio to serve on that committee to try and deal with some of the problems that we're facing today, in 2020. We were raising them in 2014 and we had a lot of high profile, controversial officer-involved shootings in this country, which have generated a lot of national publicity," he said.
Navarre mentioned the deaths of Tamir Rice in Cleveland and John Crawford III in Beavercreek. He said there were mistakes in both incidents that shouldn't have happened, such as an officer who shouldn't have been hired to serve in the force and miscommunication between 911 call takers, dispatchers and responding crews.
"People are dying because of these mistakes and we need to improve. We need to be better. We need to be professional. We need to mandate training," he said.
When asked about a July incident in which two Oregon police officers fired 21 times at an unarmed man allegedly escaping a domestic dispute, Navarre said he couldn't share more details than what has already been released because the case hasn't been closed.
The man, Victor Dale Jr., was hit twice: once in the shoulder and once in the neck, but was released from the hospital shortly after the incident.
"In terms of any officer-involved shooting in general terms, I think a police department has a responsibility to the community to be very transparent and to be truthful," Navarre said. "If there are questions that can't be answered, don't answer them, but explain why you can't answer them. When there are things that went wrong, let people know that. They want officers to be held accountable, but they want police departments to be totally transparent."
Additionally, Navarre defended the idea of getting out and visiting with people within the community to solve relationship issues between civilians and police.
"The same thing you would do in a municipal police department and get out, go to meetings, talk to people, find out where their problems are, and find out what their ideas are for solving those problems. That's really what community policing is all about, is working with the residents to come up with solutions and they need to be part of finding those solutions, right?" he said.
On the other hand, Brett Warner, an Air Force veteran who has been working in law enforcement since 1993 and started at the Lucas County Sheriff's Office in 2003, said his main focus when it comes to addressing the community will be finding common ground.
"In my lifetime, I've found there's always common ground. There's always something that we can agree on. There's always something that we can come together on," he said.
Warner added that while dedicating the better part of his career to the safety of youth, he has found the majority of people take a special interest in keeping children safe.
"There is usually a common ground that we can start with. But if you can't find at least the opportunities to start discussing what common ground you have, you're never going to be successful, which is why we have to create more community engagement, create more venues to have those discussions," Warner said.
As for Earl Mack, who has extensive experience working with law enforcement and serving the community through the Toledo Buffalo Soldiers nonprofit, he said he prides himself on being able to bring people together.
He also emphasized the importance of keeping an ongoing dialogue between police and the community.
"They talk about police reform. We also need community reform because sometimes I tell the community, we need to look in the mirror. Sometimes our own actions cause an escalation (...). And then I look at the police and say, we need to do it better," he said.
Mack added that officers who see their colleagues doing something that is not consistent with the way they should be treating the public need to step up and help create change.
"Because the only way you can stop police brutality in the streets is by another police officer. So we all get some work to do," Mack said.
Police reform
During the protests, many called for the defunding of police agencies, meaning reallocating part of the budget that goes to law enforcement to other areas of the city, county or state budget that would prevent crime.
Although all three candidates said changes need to be made when it comes to policing, none of them supported the idea of fewer funds going to the police. In fact, they all said law enforcement agencies could use more money and defended more training of police officers.
Brett Warner said he remembers being told in the police academy that he would be more than just a responding officer when responding to a scene; he would be a counselor with tasks that go beyond policing.
"And the reason that you have to wear so many hats in law enforcement is because you have the training to handle the situations in case they go bad," he said. "And I've heard people talk about situations out there that we can send a social worker to handle. I'm not opposed to a social worker being called to a scene once that scene has been deemed safe by a law enforcement officer."
Warner highlighted that it's imperative officers get trained on a regular basis so they are updated on the guidelines and procedures that are constantly changing.
"Unfortunately, there are many, many times in law enforcement that you only get the minimum or the state-mandated amount of training because it's costly. Because it costs you to pay the person who's going to train, it costs you to pay the person who's backfilling to that person's job while they're at training. Oh, let's not forget about the person doing the training. So it costs you three times to train somebody," he said.
Warner added, "if anything, we need more money to be able to provide officers that update training that they need."
Earl Mack said he views the defunding the police calls as a way people have to take power after feeling that the government or police are not listening to them.
"I think the funding of police, it needs to go a little bit further because we have taken away a lot of training. We have taken away the reinforcement of that training and some of the accountability," he said.
Mack said when the public talks about funding, there is a need to look at how agencies take care of officers, who do so much every day while going from call to call.
"They're at one minute, they're dealing with domestic violence. At another minute, they're dealing with child abuse. And another minute, they're dealing with a murder, they're dealing with a robbery, they deal with so much in the street," he said. "Then, they're dealing with, with being school resource officers, and I could just go on and on. So, that's why we need to care for the mental health of our police officers."
Mack added he doesn't believe that defunding the police could ever happen.
Mike Navarre said he has heard many people differ about what defunding the police means, though the main message he has come across is about the need to invest money in education, drug addiction and mental illness treatment. While he said those are valid needs, he doesn't think the funds should come from police departments.
"Police departments probably need more money also because they need the best training available. If you look at a lot of the incidents that have occurred here in Ohio and across the country, you can almost always point to one of two things," Navarre said. "Either they hired somebody who wasn't cut out to be a policeman because the job is not for everyone. It's an incredibly difficult job. Or it was because of lack of training."
The chief went on to say meaningful police reform, to him, comes with a long list. It starts with simple measures, such as prohibiting chokeholds. But it also includes talking about many other police procedures that includes shooting at motor vehicles, standing in front of a motor vehicle, no-knock search warrants, duty to intervene, de-escalation training, independent investigations by a separate law enforcement agency, use of tear gas and control measures.
Lucas County Jail
In February of 2019, Toledo voters supported the "Keep the Jail Downtown" initiative in a special election, changing the city charter and limits of where Lucas County officials can build a jail.
The vote came after the midterm election in November 2018, when voters opposed a levy that would fund the construction of a facility on North Detroit Street.
At the same time, there is criticism about the facility. Many have called the current jail outdated and spoke up about the need to improve it.
Although it's not entirely up to the sheriff to change where the jail is located, the elected official would have some say in the matter. While Mike Navarre has committed to keeping it downtown, Earl Mack said his priority when it comes to the jail is dealing with personnel issues.
"I think there's a lack of supervision, accountability, in that agency that keeps the morale low. There's training needs that need to happen," he said. "Because if you don't know, 100% of what you supposed to do and how to do it, that tends to lend towards low morale. So, the first thing you have to do is deal with personnel issues. There's no way in the world I would put what we have right now, as far as personnel, into a new jail."
Mack said once he gets personnel issues under control, then he would address the jail facility issue, adding he thinks the reason the measure was voted down is because citizens didn't get input on where the best place for the facility would be.
In order to hear from the public, Mack said he would form a coalition composed of a group of citizens involved with the criminal justice system, representatives with law enforcement agencies and the county commissioners.
Warner said while he wants to keep the jail downtown because of the many services located in its surroundings, county commissioners are the ones who ultimately make that decision.
"All the support services that somebody might be looking for when they walk out the doors of the county jail. So, things like the probation department, the courts, treatment facilities," he said. "I mean, maybe they need to go see their bail bondsman, or maybe they didn't have anybody to come and get them. Maybe they are looking for the TARTA bus stations. All the support systems are around downtown. And I am very much opposed to taking the jail away from those support services."
Navarre, on the other hand, said he defends building a completely new jail at a different spot in downtown Toledo.
"There are some sites that are being considered right now by Lucas County administrators. And if I am elected, that will be my top priority and I will get together with them and we'll choose a site," he said.
The chief said the site wouldn't be a 10-acre one, like it had been considered when the proposal of moving the jail from downtown came about. It would be a vertical jail since there isn't that much space available in the downtown area, he added.
"The first thing (is) choosing the site, determining the proper size, getting an architect, getting a general contractor and determine a funding source and break ground. And then you're still two and a half, three years away once you break ground. So it's going to be a lengthy project. So it's extremely important that project begin immediately by the new sheriff on his first day in office," Navarre said.
What issues keep the candidates awake at night?
Part of WTOL 11's coverage commitment during this election cycle as well as our TEGNA sister stations' in Ohio, WBNS in Columbus and WKYC in Cleveland, is asking voters what keeps them awake at night.
Below are the candidates' answers after we posed the same question to them:
"The thing that would keep me awake the most because we stay glued to the TV sometimes is the current situation between community, police and the government because at anytime that can become volatile. As you know, something happens out and people get upset about it. Then we have actions and whether those actions are disruptive actions or what have you. So that worries me the most," Earl Mack said.
"Probably the biggest one is my thoughts about needing more community engagement, in general, in law enforcement. Try to bring law enforcement and the citizens that it serves closer together," Brett Warner said.
"Well, I have children and grandchildren that live here in this community, and I have a vested interest in the safety of that community. I believe in a well trained, professional police department. I would expect that every member of this community should be treated with respect and dignity, and that's what you would want for a family member. And that's what I would expect out of my office. So, I'm concerned about some of the things that are happening across the country in terms of police reform. I know there's a lot of dissension among different groups. There are groups out there that are pro law enforcement, I can appreciate that, certainly. And there are groups out there that are thinking that the solution is to defund the police. And that clearly is not the answer, but we do need to make a lot of improvement in law enforcement in this country," Mike Navarre said.
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