MIKE FOSTER WANTS AUXILIARY, DRUG DOGS AND DARE OFFICERS FOR DINWIDDIE

DINWIDDIE - Mike Foster, who reports he has 12 years of law enforcement
experience, says "Dinwiddie has some outstanding deputies and we need more
visibility for the existing 61 deputies." He is running for sheriff in the
Nov. 4 election.

"There is a major drug problem in Dinwiddie and I am a drug expert. I have
planned and put in drug dog programs at two universities (Virginia State
and Virginia Commonwealth)," Foster says.

He has trained fellow officers at VSU and he is a certified community
policing officer.

"We need to have a sheriff's auxiliary in Dinwiddie," he says. "And we need
to secure an accredited rating for the department."

He wants drug dogs in the county and he favors resource officers at every
school. At the elementary level, resource officers could teach the DARE
anti-drug program, which is no longer funded by the federal government.
Foster says drug dogs can be used in the schools and by stopping vehicles
on Interstate 85.

An eight-year veteran of the Ford Volunteer Fire Department, Foster is a
member the North American Canine Association and the Fraternal Order of
Police. Currently he is part of the Virginia State University police
department.

"I want to decrease the response time on calls and achieve certification
from the state for the sheriff's department," he says.

He thinks education should be brought to the Dinwiddie jail. He believes
grants are available to help the jail and other department programs.

"We only have to ask," he says. "Grants from outside the county could help."

"I also want to bring Project Exile to the county so we can get guns off
the street," he says.

"I have wanted to do law enforcement since I was in the fifth grade and saw
what police work was like in Hopewell," he says.

He has learned what policing is.

"I have been assaulted myself," he says.

Foster's campaign platform includes:

* Decreasing response time on calls for service.

* Improving budget efficiency.

* Developing programs for at-risk teens.

* Utilizing grant resources from outside the county.

* Addressing the needs of law enforcement and citizens by working with
local officials.

* Building strong relationships between citizens and the sheriff's office.

Foster has received endorsements from Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, U.S.
Sen. George Allen, U.S. Sen. John Warner, State Sen. Steve Martin, Del.
Riley Ingram and the Dinwiddie Republican Party.

Foster is married to the former Tracy Lee Davis. They have three children,
ages 3, 5 and 9. They are members of the Edgehill Church of Christ.