The Marshall County Republicans hosted a candidate forum on May 21. The forum, held at La Grande Mexican Restaurant was a chance for both sheriff candidates to give their platform. It was also a chance for any registered Republican residents to ask either, or both, candidates a question.
Madill Police Chief Donald Yow has been in law enforcement for almost 28 years. He has spent all those years at the Madill Police Department. He was promoted to police chief in 2018.
Yow said after multiple people asked him to throw his hat into the sheriff race, he prayed for guidance on if he should. He said he heard his reply loud and clear.
Yow said one of his goals if he is elected is to build a strong reserve program.
“I want to have reserve officers that have gone through the same training as full-time officers,” Yow said. “If I don’t want you as a full-time officer, why would I want you as a reserve?”
Yow also explained a program that has always been near and dear to his heart, the D.A.R.E. program, and how he ran it.
D.A.R.E. was formed under Nancy Reagan in 1983 to fight off the large number of drugs entering the United States, and the violence associated with the drugs. Initially, the program was built to teach children in schools how to just say no to drugs and violence.
As time marched on, the program changed with the tides. It was revised into a program that teaches middle school and high school students how to make better decisions; to think about the consequences of each decision.
Yow has been a D.A.R.E. instructor since 2014, he is also a D.A.R.E. instructor for the State of Oklahoma. Officers from all across the United States for annual Oklahoma D.A.R.E. training.
“Oklahoma has one of the best trainings in the country and we usually have a waiting list to attend this training,” Yow said.
He is also on the Oklahoma D.A.R.E. Board. Yow said he is passionate about the program and what it teaches.
Once Yow concluded, incumbent Marshall County Sheriff Danny Cryer stood and addressed the guests. Like Yow, Cryer is also
Like Yow, Cryer is also a life-long member of law enforcement. He has been in law enforcement for almost 23 years, serving the entirety of the career at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office. Cryer has said in the past that serving Marshall County is what he lives for.
After commending Yow on his speech, Cryer dove head first into his own oration.
“Four years ago when you voted me in, I made you some promises,” Cryer said.
Cryer then went through the list of accomplishments he has made while in office, and the promises he has made and kept. He said he makes sure his entire staff if certified as a CLEET (Council on Law Enforcement, Education and Training) instructor. He said it is important that the officers learn how to respond to a death scene, and the training shows them that.
Cryer said he finds grants for the jail and officers, and has two Department of Corrections contracts that fills the gaps and makes sure the officers are paid. He boasted as helping the officers get their first pay raise in 18 years. The main accomplishment
The main accomplishment that Cryer is proud of, is the Marshall County Jail. He said he found ways to get the jail built without raising residents’ taxes. He said the jail is the first of its kind. Cryer said the jail was also a prototype of sorts.
Sheriffs and officials from other counties came from all over to walk through the jail. Cryer said the ones that came to look were either in the process of building a new jail, or had just recently built one, and they walked through the Marshall County Jail to see the design ideas. The visitors also wanted to see how the jail operated so effectively with the small number of staff members.
When Cryer finished speaking, it was time for residents to ask questions. One of the questions was to Yow.
“Did you decide to run for sheriff because you are approaching your retirement age,” the resident asked.
Yow buffered the question with a resounding “no,” and informed the resident and everybody else in attendance that retirement had nothing to do with his decision to run. In fact, Yow does not retire for another seven years. The hot button question of
The hot button question of the night was if either candidate had plans of running more patrol units through the neighborhoods. Yow referred back to his initial speech, where he wants to build the reserve program.
Cryer said he commends Yow for such high aspirations, but unfortunately, there is not enough money in the budget to purchase the equipment needed for reserve officers.
“We’ve tried the reserve program,” Cryer said. “The problem is there is not enough money to purchase the needed vehicles to give to the reserve officers.”
Residents do not have to wait much longer to find out if Cryer holds the position as Sheriff, or if Marshall County will have a change of the guard. Election for Marshall County Sheriff is June 30.