Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of stories drawn from recent interviews with Shawano County sheriff candidates Randy Wright and Adam Bieber.
Both Republican candidates for Shawano County sheriff say they are conservatives who would like to avoid seeing taxes go up, but they differ slightly on what should happen if that goal conflicts with the resources the Sheriff’s Department needs to keep the county and its citizens safe.
“I consider myself a conservative,” incumbent Randy Wright said. “But if there’s needs like what I see, we need to have them done. I don’t want to see taxes go up, but I want to see what we need get done.”
Shawano police officer Adam Bieber, who is challenging Wright in the Aug. 12 primary, said the people he has talked to while campaigning have a different perspective.
“When I go door to door, they’re not telling me, ‘Hey, make me safe,’” he said. “They’re concerned about their dollar and what we’re doing with it, if it’s effective or not.”
Bieber said taxpayers want most to make sure the county is using their money wisely.
“I definitely want to make sure we have the tools to do what we are intended to do and that’s protect, but we also have to look at the other thing — are we being wise with the taxpayers’ money?” he said. “That’s very important to me, and I think it’s very important to the taxpayer.”
Wright said he is still standing by the same campaign promise he made in 2006.
“I know I can’t save the world, but I will try my best to keep people safe and secure,” Wright said. “Keeping (the deputies) safe, the public safe and everybody safe. That’s been my goal.”
Wright said that’s the reasoning behind plans for the department to obtain what has become a contentious flash-point in the campaign — a mine resistant armored personnel carrier, known in shorthand as MRAP.
The Sheriff’s Department would get the vehicle by paying an annual $500 membership fee to Wisconsin Emergency Management WEM, which will allow the department to obtain available military equipment.
The department has already been approved for the vehicle by WEM but also needs federal approval.
The department will also pay transportation costs to deliver the vehicle from Texas, and pay for outfitting the vehicle with radios and other equipment. The cost will be funded by asset forfeitures.
“This will keep our deputies much safer when on SWAT calls,” Wright said.
The department would pay an estimated $300 a year for maintenance, which would be done by the county Highway Department.
The Sheriff’s Department currently borrows similar armored vehicles when needed from Brown and Marathon counties.
According to Sheriff’s Department records, those vehicles have been borrowed five times so far this year.
Wright said the wait time for those vehicles to arrive on scene can be more than an hour.
Bieber said the MRAP is a misplaced priority.
“We haven’t had any issues with officers dying during raids and stuff,” he said. “I realize it may be a little more dangerous without that tool, but that is our job.”
Bieber said the “safety debate” should not be used for all department expenses.
“Most officers die from car accidents,” he said. “Why don’t we get a helicopter? Why don’t we get a drone? Why don’t we drive a MRAP for all of our squad cars? Because that’s where most of the officers are dying. If we’re going to use safety as an issue to just buy things, then why aren’t we doing all that? I don’t think it’s a valid point.”
Bieber said the Sheriff’s Department should instead be focused on getting the K9 unit into the budget, rather than relying on a private group to fundraise for it.
“Down the road, once we get our priorities in line and if a MRAP is available for cheap, I’m not against it,” Bieber said. I’m not totally against it at all, but that K9 is a priority to me.”
Wright said his department has taken a number of steps to save taxpayer money, including the establishment of a forensic lab funded entirely through grant money; changes made to squad car equipment that allowed for broader use without upgrading technology; and the use of part-time deputies to cut down on the cost of overtime.