VOTERS QUESTION SHERIFF CANDIDATES

Voters proved there was more on their minds Thursday than the county's
crime rate and putting an end to drug trafficking as they grilled the two
candidates for Pitt County sheriff at an open election forum.

Questions on topics ranging from alleviating language barriers to how much
influence the office has on the court system signaled that voters want to
know what makes the sheriff's office work and what makes it stumble.

The League of Women Voters sponsored the forum, inviting District 3 and
District 5 county commission candidates - John Minges, Stuart Shinn, Jimmy
Garris and Emmett Floyd - in addition to Republican sheriff candidate Billy
Vandiford and Sheriff Mac Manning.

About 30 people listened from the county commission board room decorated
with red, white and blue, submitting questions or just listening to the
ones being asked by others. Approximately 25 public access television
viewers called in with questions geared mainly toward the sheriff and his
former boss.

One voter asked how the candidates feel the sheriff's office could better
serve crime victims.

Manning explained that he pursued a grant to add a victim's advocate to the
victim's unit. That employee stays involved with the victim through the
investigation process, ensuring all needs are met under the Victim's Rights
Act, Manning said. Victims also are permitted to keep track of the custody
status of the offending criminals.

Vandiford stated that he was "on the bottom floor" when the national act
for victim's rights was approved. And it was under his administration that
the office's first domestic violence unit was created - a model for the
state and a police department in England, Vandiford said.

Another forum participant wanted to know what type of influence the sheriff
has on the judicial process.

Judges and the district attorney are often blamed for decisions made in the
courtroom, Vandiford said. But any failing in the justice system, he said,
is the result of the charges offenders receive and the constraints judges
face in following a structured sentencing table mandated by the Legislature.

"It's certainly my role as sheriff to be an advocate of strong law
enforcement," Manning said. "The sheriff is the conscience of the
community. It's my job to look over the horizon and see consequences ... to
ring a warning bell if need be."

It's incumbent upon the sheriff to keep a good working relationship with
the district attorney, he said, and be an advocate of tougher sentences.
The candidates agreed that they support the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
(D.A.R.E.) program, which they said could always be more effective in
keeping kids off drugs.

Vandiford and Manning strongly disagreed on the formation of a Drug Task
Force between the State Bureau of Investigation and county and municipal
law enforcement agencies.

Manning dismantled the task force that functioned under Vandiford, saying
that in 2000 it was no longer effective or productive to have a handful of
deputies working separate from the department in rented buildings.

Vandiford, on the other hand, said reinstating the task force would be more
effective in deterring the flow of drugs into the county.

"It is amazing to me that the Pitt County Sheriff's Office doesn't have a
task force, but Ayden Police Department is part of one," Vandiford said.
"The crime rate is directly affected by what the sheriff's office does and
doesn't do out in the county."

Voters also asked such questions as how the sheriff's office budget is
developed and who approves spending; how grants fit into spending; in what
ways the candidates would improve minority hiring practices; how they would
improve the level of job security and what type of continued education each
has received in the past four years.

The candidates were afforded three minutes at the beginning of the forum
for self-introductions and asked to touch on the major issues they want
addressed if they are elected.

Vandiford emphasized his 40 years in law enforcement, stemming from his
start at the Fairfax County, Va., Police Department. His three goals during
his two terms in office from 1990-98 were to reduce crime, reduce the
burden of law enforcement-related taxes on the public and to offer his
employees a pleasant work environment.

He took credit for seizing $88 million in drugs and $3 million in cash
after breaking up 12 drug organizations. He mentioned building the section
of the jail that houses federal inmates, reducing food service costs and
privatizing the jail's phone service to save taxpayers' money. "Today, I
see the main issues as drugs, crime, maximizing resources without
continuing to ask the county commissioners for more money," Vandiford said.
"Unless we stop the slow free-flow of drugs, we will never slow crime down."

Manning focused on his accomplishments from his first term in office. He
said he lowered crime in the rural and unincorporated potions of the county
patrolling by the sheriff's office. He mentioned starting some crime
prevention and neighborhood watch programs, increasing the number of civil
and criminal papers served and finding ways to spread resources through
grants and a management reorganization.

He did not, however, fasten to a specific list of goals for a possible
second term.

"I'm ready and willing to meet the challenges of our great and growing
county," Manning said.