The debate, hosted at Fort Frenzy by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, gave voters a new look at the two candidates, both of whom have ample experience as sergeants in the Webster County Sheriff’s Office.

Sgt. Tony Walter, the Democratic candidate, has focused his plans on outreach efforts to rebuild the image of law enforcement at the local level through positive experiences — not just negative ones.

“I believe in proactive law enforcement,” not only through enforcement but through outreach and training, he said. “Community outreach has to be a high priority.”

Walter, who has been with the department for 16 of his 18 years in law enforcement, announced a youth mentorship program in September that would pair deputies with children in school to create relationships with effects that reverberate in the individual and the community throughout a student’s life.

-Messenger photo by Elijah Decious Sgt. Tony Walter of the Webster County Sheriff’s Office is the Democratic candidate for sheriff. His top priority is extending community relations to improve law enforcement’s public image through positive reinforcements.

“We have to become involved and reach out to the community in positive ways, that is how we are going to improve our image,” he said.

Sgt. Luke Fleener, the Republican candidate vying for the chair held by retiring Democratic Sheriff Jim Stubbs, said that the department first needs to overcome barriers to hiring deputies and jailers in a national environment that has become inhospitable for young people forging their career paths.

“I’d like to see (the Webster County Sheriff’s Office as) that star on the map of Iowa where people want to come work for us,” Fleener said.

That would include more internal efforts focused on boosting morale and making room for promotion, making hiring more efficient and more effectively competing for a limited number of young candidates. Though Fleener previously told The Messenger that new outreach programs were a lower priority for him, he said he has worked throughout his career to treat the public with a respect that maintains the Sheriff’s Office’s reputation.

“You (have the power to) take somebody’s freedom, but if you take somebody’s dignity, that’s when you have trouble, because they want to fight back,” Fleener said.

-Messenger photo by Elijah Decious Sgt. Luke Fleener of the Webster County Sheriff’s Office is the Republican candidate for sheriff. His priorities include overcoming hiring challenges for vacancies in the department, with long-term visions for a larger law enforcement center and jail.

Both candidates’ priorities tacitly acknowledged the long-term challenges facing law enforcement agencies amid nationwide protests against police brutality and calls for reform following high profile cases of Black Americans being killed while in police custody.

In recent years, the number of people in custody at the Webster County Jail has consistently challenged the maximum capacity of the facility built over 30 years ago. With jail populations regularly hovering between 50 and 60 people, a recent COVID-19 outbreak in the jail that left 15 inmates and jailers infected highlighted a long-standing weakness for the department.

Walter said that the decision for a new jail was simply one for Webster County Supervisors and, subsequently, for voters to decide through a bond referendum.

“If they give us a new jail, great — that would be wonderful,” he said.

Fleener said the sheriff’s role should be more active in advocating for one, calling the COVID-19 outbreak “inevitable” despite the department’s best attempts to prevent it from the outset of the pandemic. The Republican, a 25-year veteran in the department, said the crowded jail poses safety issues for staff with 10 inmates currently facing first-degree murder or attempted murder charges.

“Yes, it has to be a bond issue, but somebody’s got to lead the fight that this isn’t safe and it’s time to move forward,” he said, articulating a vision that he had previously defined as a higher priority in his campaign.

Adding to the urgency of the issue, he said, is the crowding that has forced the department to “farm out” inmates to other smaller county jails nearby at a much higher cost.

“Sooner or later, we have to change what we’re doing to stop that bleeding,” Fleener said, foreshadowing the long-term possibility of a regional law enforcement center to solve jail crowding issues.

Internally, Walter said that one of the Sheriff’s Office’s greatest needs are for further improvement and updates in training for jailers and deputies that would encompass mental health, deescalation tactics, use of force and substance abuse.

“(Mental health issues are) something we’ll always have to deal with. (We) must have the proper training for that,” he said, committing to using a data-driven approach to studying crime to properly distribute personnel and resources in the county.

Both candidates agreed in their disavowal of calls to “defund the police,” a movement that has advocated for reallocating or shifting portions of funding away from law enforcement agencies to social services for issues like mental health and addiction.

Walter said that defunding would create a dangerous situation for citizens, “plain and simple.”

“We need that funding,” he said.

Fleener said responding more effectively to calls involving issues with mental health and substance abuse starts with education and initiating a conversation that moves towards achieving a goal. Walter echoed similar sentiments, with an emphasis on maintaining relationships with health care providers at Berryhill Center, UnityPoint Health and Community and Family Resources to pair those in need with the appropriate help.

“These people, especially with mental health, they deserve the help,” Walter said. “We need to stop using the Band-aid solution of throwing people in jail because we don’t know what else to do with them. That’s why we have to reach out and we have to work together.”

While Walter defined the department’s two biggest challenges as the mental health care crisis in Iowa and substance abuse, Fleener focused on filling vacancies and training.

In closing, Walter asked voters to look beyond a shallow resume comparison.

“Citizens deserve a sheriff that will listen to them, be available for them, work for them and serve them,” he said. “A vote for me will guarantee that sheriff.”

Fleener asked undecided voters to simply ask other law enforcement officers, courthouse employees, jail staff and judiciary branch employees on their opinion of who would be a better leader.

“Those are the people that can guide you on who has the best experience and leadership ability,” he said. “I’m confident, when you do that, that you’ll make the right decision.”