Although they’re on opposite sides of the aisle, the two candidates for Lake County sheriff are looking to promote fiscal responsibility as leader of the county law enforcement department.
Voters will choose between Republican David Crane and Democrat Jerry Williams during the Nov. 3 general election.
Crane opted to send the Post-Tribune written answers rather than a phone interview. In an emailed response, Crane said he worked with the sheriff’s department for 17 years.
Crane is running for sheriff to strengthen oversight, restore accountability, confront corruption and support Lake County’s youth.
“The Sheriff’s Department has the largest budget in county government, and it requires disciplined management,” Crane said. “In my view, Democratic sheriffs have not demonstrated sufficient care in how public funds are spent. I believe reports from the State Board of Accounts support this concern.”
According to Post-Tribune archives, findings from a state audit showed the sheriff’s department improperly spent about $300,000 for charity or church donations, golf outings and travel costs. Indiana law says commissary funds can be spent on merchandise for the commissary, training, equipment or programs, among other items.
If elected, Crane said he’ll ask the Indiana State Board of Accounts to conduct an audit of the department and insist Attorney General Todd Rokita “prosecute any illegal activity found.”
He also plans to use commissary funds for their intended purpose of reducing or preventing criminal activity.
According to Post-Tribune archives, Crane said, without any evidence, that if the department reviewed commissary data for the past 10 years, the auditors would’ve found more misspending of funds.
The State Board of Accounts audits governmental units on a rolling basis.
Crane also said he believes the jail conditions are “deeply troubled,” citing issues that date back to former Sheriff Roy Dominguez’s tenure. A civil lawsuit filed in 2007 by jail inmates claimed inhumane conditions and inadequate health care, which ended in a 2010 settlement agreement that led to U.S. Department of Justice oversight from 2010 to 2019.
Complaints of poor jail conditions have persisted, including power outages, overflowing water, locks that didn’t work and inmates caught with shanks, according to Post-Tribune archives.
If elected, Crane also plans to increase citizen involvement, including through a citizen oversight committee “to review every complaint made against any officer in the department,” and to start a school and children’s outreach program.
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“(Officers involved) would interact with organizations that help kids and report back to me on how I or the department can help,” Crane said.
Williams has been in law enforcement for 33 years, with the most time spent at the Indiana State Police. He wanted to run for sheriff because Williams believes he can make changes in the department.
Through the state police, Williams said he’s worked with police departments “all over the country,” and he could bring lessons from those experiences into his leadership.
“At the Harvey, Illinois, police department, for example, I was sent over there to work with the police chief and mayor to help them draft relationships with the Illinois State Police because we’d done it for other agencies,” Williams said.
Williams also served as Gary’s interim police chief for the first half of 2023.
If elected, Williams plans to use relationships he’s built with the Indiana State Police and other law enforcement agencies to benefit the sheriff’s department.
Williams also said he plans to promote fiscal responsibility and accountability, saying it goes “hand-in-hand” with crime fighting. If elected, on his first day, Williams plans to do a forensic audit of the department and third party audit of the commissary fund.
“I want a forensic audit of the entire police department,” Williams said, “not only the financial component of the agency but all things that make that agency operate and function so that we can start at ground zero to figure out what needs to be adjusted.”
He also plans to complete a comprehensive audit of the Lake County Jail and look at the possibility of hiring more correctional officers, saying the jail is understaffed.
“They’re somewhere between conservatively 40 to maybe as many as 60 correctional officers,” Williams said. “What I’m being told by experts in the jail system itself, that to function properly and safely, they need around 200 officers.”
Williams helped with state police recruiting previously, he said, so he plans to use that experience to guide recruiting at the sheriff’s department.
Currently, the Lake County Jail is understaffed by 70 officers, Frisch said. The correctional officers sign up for 12-hour shifts, Frisch said, but are often held over another four hours because of understaffing, she said.
A representative from the Lake County Correctional Association told the Lake County Council earlier this year that the jail was understaffed by 70 officers. Oftentimes, correctional officers sign up for 12-hour shifts, but are often held over another four hours because of understaffing, according to Post-Tribune archives.
He also wants to work to decrease overcrowding at the jail.
“That is not just a sheriff thing,” Williams said. “That has to be a collaboration with all the stakeholders. If I’m elected, I’d envision having these conversations with the prosecutor and the judicial system.”