Rock Island County sheriff candidates have specific ideas

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By Barb Ickes | Sunday, October 22, 2006 12:59 AM CDT | () comments

Between the two of them, the candidates for Rock Island County sheriff have 47 years of experience.

Democrat Sgt. Mike Huff won a surprise victory in the primary over longtime incumbent Sheriff Mike Grchan and did so with 26 years of police work behind him. Republican Lt. Kraig Schwigen entered the race after the primary, surprising some with his announcement that he would be on the GOP ticket.

Despite a considerable level of campaign quarreling about each other’s work experience and personal histories, Huff and Schwigen agree on one thing: The Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department is a successful — if imperfect — law enforcement agency.

Here are their responses to three questions:

What would be your priority as sheriff?

Schwigen: “Law enforcement is a service industry and a monopoly. The citizens out there don’t get to pick who provides their police service. We have an obligation to give them the best service we can.

“I know how to do that.”

Huff: “Safety and efficiency are my priorities. We need adequate personnel for the safety of our deputies — so deputies aren’t alone in high-risk situation. We also need more equipment for them to do their jobs, such as tasers. We could also find some efficiencies in restructuring and by serving warrants at times when most people are at home.”

Why are you running for sheriff?

Huff: “Because I care.”

Schwigen: “I love what I do. I’m proud to be a member of the Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department.”

What are the department’s most important issues?

Huff: “Senior citizens are being preyed on and are vulnerable. Children in domestic situations need to be brought to the forefront. Both of these groups are special groups. Anyone can be a victim, but the elderly and children are most vulnerable. I want to protect them.”

Schwigen: “We do most things very well. We could do some things a little bit better.

“For instance, our employees cry out for better training. I’m a very business-oriented person, and I know that we can better protect our citizens and ourselves against liabilities through the best possible training.

“We can pay for it with the half-million dollars in revenue for housing inmates that is unrealized today.”

Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563)383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.

The Race

What: Rock Island County sheriff

Term: Four years

Pay: $85,000

Voters registration deadline: Expired

Information: To find out more about Rock Island County elections on the Web, go to www.co.rock-island.il.us and click on County Clerk under “departments.”

Meet the candidates

Sgt. Mike Huff

Age: 49

Address: Port Byron, Ill.

Family: Wife, Mona

Education: Bachelor of science degree in law enforcement administration from Western Illinois University

Experience: Served in all major departments; served with the Quad-City Metropolitan Enforcement Group, or MEG, and was part of the large-scale federal drug probe dubbed Operation Adobe

Party: Democrat

Web site: www.votehuff.com

Lt. Kraig Schwigen

Age: 48

Address: Rural Milan, Ill.

Family: Wife, Lynn; five children and one grandchild

Education: Criminal justice degree, Black Hawk College; crime prevention specialist, University of Louisville; Police Training Institute of the University of Illinois (first in his class)

Experience: Personnel supervision; budget administration; crisis negotiation commander; water patrol unit commander; interim jail administrator; patrol division supervisor; investigation division supervisor; records division supervisor; warrant/fugitive division supervisor; field training officer; professional standards officer; established Rock Island County’s Community Policing Program

Party: Republican

Web site: None