LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT FOR SIERRA COUNTY SHERIFF CANDADATE MICHAEL LANFORD. Please take the time to read this letter and learn more about Michael Lanford candidate for Sierra County Sheriff. Although I no longer reside in Sierra County, I still own a home there. In addition, I have a great deal of family members who live in the county and as a result I am a frequent visitor. Whenever I am in town I am often asked for my opinion on the upcoming election for Sierra County Sheriff, so I decided to write this letter. The two current candidates for sheriff are both good men and skilled law enforcement officers. However, I believe Michael Lanford’s extensive and varied experience, tireless work ethic, unblemished integrity and genuine concern for public safety make him the most qualified candidate. During my almost 30 year law enforcement career in the NYPD, Truth or Consequences Police Department (TCPD) and the Santa Fe Police Department, I have worked with and commanded many competent law enforcement professionals. I can therefore say without hesitation that Michael Lanford is one of the most exceptional, motivated and selfless officers it has been my privilege to know. When I was provided the honor of serving as Chief of the TCPD, I began to implement some of the NYPD crime fighting strategies and techniques that have reduced crime in New York City by 75% over the last 20 years. I quickly learned there is a big difference between policing a rural community as opposed to an urban one. The small size and relative isolation of the TCPD limited the initial implementation of some of the crime fighting tools I had planned to utilize. Simply put, we needed help in order to have any hope of reducing crime. As a detective with the TCPD, Michael Lanford also came to this realization and began to establish and foster valuable partnerships with a vast array of outside law enforcement agencies we effectively leveraged to assist our crime reduction efforts. His lengthy and proven track record of integrity, investigative talent and ability to maintain confidentiality allowed these other agencies to have trust in the TCPD. Such trust is an essential component of interagency cooperation as any breach of that trust can have disastrous and even deadly consequences. Michael Lanford is fully aware of this fact and prepared to operate accordingly as he had done so for years with great success. Some of the local agencies that were instrumental in helping the TCPD include the New Mexico State Police, the Las Cruces Police Department, and the Seventh Judicial District Attorney’s Office. In addition, the following Federal agencies also provided important resources in the form of personnel, equipment and financial assistance: F.B.I., Marshall’s Office, D.E.A, Border Patrol, A.T.F., and Homeland Security to name a few. The proactive and collaborative efforts with these other law enforcement entities served as a force multiplier, thereby allowing the TCPD to focus an unprecedented level of resources on local crime conditions. First and foremost among these efforts was an intensive and focused attack on the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics that was determined to be primarily responsible for the high level of burglaries plaguing the community. This was accomplished through a combination of state of the art investigative techniques and an overall crime reduction strategy designed to disrupt the business model of illegal narcotic dealers. The strategy employed a four prong approach consisting of timely and accurate intelligence, rapid deployment of personnel and resources, proactive tactics and relentless follow up and assessment. As a result, felony crime in T or C was reduced by almost 40% in 2011. This would not have been possible without the hard work and tenacity of Michael Lanford and the resources he brought to bear. He consistently put the needs of the TCPD above his own needs and those of his family. Such a selfless devotion to duty is a quality that will certainly bode well for the citizens of Sierra County if they choose Michael Lanford to be their sheriff. I am confident in Michael Lanford’s ability to implement the same proactive crime reduction strategies on a county wide level that were so successful in reducing crime in T or C. Moreover, as a lifelong resident of Sierra County, he has a vested interest in reducing crime and knows how to do so in true partnership with the community. If you want a sheriff who will put public safety first, has the knowledge and experience to successfully operate a rural law enforcement agency, and will hold himself and his personnel strictly accountable, I would urge you to consider Michael Lanford to be your next sheriff. Respectfully, Patrick Gallagher
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 02:50:01 +0000
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