Dear editor, The Times,

As the Election for our next Sheriff draws near I would like to let the voters know how important this election really is. Everyone around us can see what is going on in this country. Prayer being removed from our schools and meetings just to mention a few. Our right to vote is the most valuable tool that we have to see that the BEST people are elected to hold Office. We should want to see good CHRISTAIN people elected to every office. John N. Brown is a man of Faith and he is a faithful member of Vineland Baptist Church.

As you know there are around 7 people running for the Office of Sheriff. I know each of them that are running on the Democrat ticket and I think that most are good people, but lets think about the qualifications. Most have been out of law enforcement for a very long time. I saw a lot of changes and improvements in law enforcement in the nearly 30 years I worked in the County in law enforcement. To my knowledge none of them, including Deputy Sanders has not had any Leadership or Executive level training. Chief John N. Brown has completed hundreds of hours of training and he has actually run a law enforcement agency for nearly 11 years. He is the only one running that would be able to step right in the Sheriff’s office on day one and get right to work..

In order to maintain a strong and effective Sheriff’s Department we must have a leader that is well trained on how to run and operate the office. He must also have good people skills and he must know how to talk to and also how to treat people.

Our Sheriff should be a God fearing man, and he must set a good example for the deputies. He should live a good clean and moral life style and he should be involved in serving all the citizens of this county.

The only man I know that is running that meets those qualifications is Chief John Newton Brown. He is the person that we should elect as our next Sheriff. I have known him and I have worked cases with him when I was the Chief of Police in Linden and I know without a shadow of doubt that he is the best person for the job. He will be fair to all and he will be a very active Sheriff for everyone. He has a website that everyone should look at. It is www.electjohnbrown.org for a lot more information on Chief Brown.

State law requires that a Police Chief receives 20 hours of Executive Level training each year and they also can complete a Certified Police Chief training that Chief Brown has done. State Law DOES NOT require a Deputy Sheriff to get any Continuing Training hours after he completes the BASIC Police Academy. A Municipal Police Officer is REQUIRED by State Law to receive at least 12 hours CEU’s each year to keep his certification up to date.

It just makes sense that we should want to elect a person to be the Sheriff that is the best trained and the one with a clean and moral life and that is one of the many reasons that I support Chief John N. Brown as our next Sheriff.

Being a good officer or investigator does not qualify them to be the type of Sheriff that Marengo County deserves.

I am flattered by the many requests that I have received to run for Sheriff. Law Enforcement will always be a great concern to be as I continue to live in Marengo County and I would have run if I were not sure that Chief John N. Brown would do a great job as our Sheriff. I will vote for him on June 1st and I ask that you also VOTE for him on June 1st.

Thank you,

Jeff Laduron