TACTICS TO FIGHT CRIME WOULD DIFFER

Caldwell Sheriff's Race

Community Policing Emphasis Versus Intense Focus on Drugs

Sheriff Gary Clark's administration began under a cloud four years
ago, when he won election to his first term, and it continues in this
year's election. But the controversies, including a 2002 vote-buying
scandal led by a few renegade supporters and two current
investigations by the state Board of Elections, don't worry the
Republican as he prepares to face Democrat Terry Harris at the polls.

"As long as politics are involved in the sheriff's race, it will
always be that way," Clark said.

He called the complaints, which allege threats on residents and
improper campaign spending, "preposterous" and blamed the grievances
on disgruntled ex-employees and family members trying to sway voters.
The accusations are ones that Harris said he refuses to use as
leverage in the race. Instead, he said, he'd rather run on his
experience and record as a 30-year Caldwell County law enforcement
veteran.

"It's a non-issue," Harris said. "It's been dealt with by the justice
system (or is) strictly between the Board of Elections and Mr. Clark."
What the candidates say Politically, Clark may have the advantage as
Election Day approaches in Caldwell County, because nearly half of the
residents are registered Republican. Democrats make up about 35
percent of registered voters.Clark claims the county's overall crime
rate has gone down since he took office and started cracking down on
drug dealers. Eighty percent of all crime in the county -- from
larceny to assault -- can be attributed to illegal drug use, he said.

"We need to continue to look at that problem in our county," he said.
Clark also said he plans to bring the D.A.R.E. anti-drug program,
which ends after the fifth grade, to county middle schools and high
schools. "That's when the peer pressure really starts," he said.
Harris, however, said he worries that Clark is focusing too intently
on narcotics and isn't giving deputies enough time to respond to other
crimes. Instead, he suggests focusing on the county drug problem at a
more organic level. "If we're really going to do anything about drugs,
we need to get back into the family," he said.

That's where his plan for community policing fits in, Harris said.
Officers would establish better relationships with residents if they
were required to live in the county, he said.

Harris also said more than 100 people have left the Sheriff's Office
under Clark's reign. The high turnover, he said, forces new officers
into a learning curve and increases response time.

While Clark's office didn't deny the turnover, Lt. Chris Brackett said
that employee turnover included officers retiring and others who left
because they couldn't meet the higher standards he said Clark
implemented, including accurately completing reports and regular
cleaning and inspection of weapons. Harris' community policing policy
would not only help lower crime rates, he said, but likely reduce
turnover in the Sheriff's Office, as well. Although Clark said there's
a benefit to community policing, he said his staffing priority is to
find qualified officers.

"We need to look for the best people, irregardless of where they're
from," Clark said.

Clark also has the advantage in fundraising. Since Jan. 1, 2004, Clark
had raised $47,322.85, according to the most recent campaign finance
reports, filed July 13. The report shows $44,029.12 in
expenditures.

Harris had raised $25,336 since the beginning of 2006 and spent
$23,315.03, the reports show.

Candidates filed updates on their spending Oct. 31, but as of Thursday
morning, the campaign finance reports were still being audited by the
Caldwell County Board of Elections.

What the voters are saying Even with chatter about the board of
elections' investigations into Clark, many voters say they think the
Republican will prevail on Election Day. Amy Hightower, a student at
Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, said she's seen
the results of Clark's emphasis on drug crime in the Piedmont
community, where she lives, and will vote for him in November. "He
just cleans it up," she said. "I don't want my daughter picking up a
needle and asking, 'Mommy, what's that?' "

But Harris' supporters say that while fighting drug crime is
important, it isn't enough.

"He'll focus not just on one thing, but on all crime in the county,"
said Sylvia Myers, who has lived in Lenoir for 27 years. "He truly has
the people of Caldwell County in mind."