The Lake County Sheriff’s candidates addressed how they would approach reining in spending of commissary funding, cooperating with ICE under current state law, and overcrowding in the jail amid a potential constitutional change to bail ahead of the May 5 primary.
The Democratic candidates are Steven Flores, Jason Gore, Edward Jenkins, John Gregory “Jack” Sanchez, Maria Garcia Trajkovich and Jerry Williams. The candidate who wins the Democratic primary will face Republican David K. Crane Jr. in November.
Flores, who is the St. John Police Chief, said he’d pull from his 25 years of experience working as chief, detective and member of the Northwest Indiana Major Crimes Taskforce if elected sheriff.
Gore, 53, said he has 27 years of law enforcement experience, most recently as the assistant special agent in charge of the Chicago field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Federal agents have a mandatory retirement age of 57, Gore said, and he couldn’t be promoted without having to move. Instead of moving his family for four years of work, he saw an open sheriff’s race and decided to run to use his law enforcement skills in a new way.
Jenkins, who is the Lake County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Chief of Police, has worked in law enforcement for nearly 30 years. He said he decided to run for sheriff because he is best positioned to address the needs and shortcomings of the department, like hiring more correctional officers and collaborating with local police departments.
Sanchez said he decided to run for sheriff because he wants to address the “jail crisis” of overcrowding and understaffing while the infrastructure fails, which he’s witnessed firsthand as a Lake County Jail Correctional Officer.
Lake County Sheriff’s Department Gary Civil Division officer Trajkovich said she started with the sheriff’s department in 1997 as a secretary in the records department. Trajkovich said she decided to run for sheriff to change the culture in the department.
Williams, an Indiana State Police Major, has worked for the Indiana State Police for 33 years. The Gary native said he decided to run for sheriff to give back to his community.
Crane, who retired from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department after 17 years, said he served the department as patrol supervisor, traffic unit supervisor, detective and warrant officer. Crane said he decided to run for sheriff to end the department’s “history of abuse.”
Late last year, a state audit found that current Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. improperly spent nearly $300,000 for charity or church donations, golf outings and travel costs, noting that Martinez often mischaracterized the expenses as “Prevent Juvenile Delinquency,” “(Juvenile) Crime Prevention,” and “Community Relations.” Under Indiana law, commissary funds can be spent on merchandise for the commissary, training, equipment or programs, among other things.
Flores said as police chief he is responsible for the budget, so he has experience with managing a budget. If elected, Flores said he’d follow the state law on how the commissary funds can be spent.
“We will make sure that we do audits periodically to make sure that everything is accounted for,” Flores said.
If elected, Gore said he would hire a comptroller who would be responsible for handling the department’s expenses and the commissary. Gore said he would listen to and work with the comptroller when it comes to the budget.
The comptroller would also be responsible for working with the State Board of Accounts if any budgetary spending questions arise, Gore said.
“You don’t have to guess. You can go and seek an opinion through them before you spend the money,” Gore said.
Gore said he would also post quarterly reports on the sheriff’s website showing how commissary money has been spent.
Jenkins said if he is elected Lake County Sheriff he would hire a staff that would be used as a check and balance on the spending of commissary funds.
“I want a staff who not only works with me but also has the ability to say, ‘No, that’s not okay.’ I’m good with that. If you’re a ‘yes man,’ I don’t want you to be a part of my staff,” Jenkins said.
Sanchez said he’d be transparent about the commissary fund by posting reports of how the money is spent on the sheriff’s website.
“As sheriff, I answer to the citizens of Lake County. They are my boss. I think it’s a simple fix, you just put it on the website: this is what we’re bringing in, this is how it’s being spent,” Sanchez said.
Trajkovich said she would invest the commissary funding back into the jail for personnel and to address infrastructure.
Williams said he would treat the commissary funds like taxpayer dollars and not as “a piggy bank.” Williams said he has experience managing a budget with $450 million in daily assets.
If elected, Williams said on day one he’d create a public portal of the spending of the commissary funding. Also on day one, Williams said he would bring in an auditor to evaluate and assess all parts of the sheriff’s budget.
“This is easy: just follow the rules and make sure that you stay in compliance,” Williams said.
Crane said he would follow state law when deciding how to spend commissary funds.
The state legislature approved a massive immigration bill that, in part, allows local and state police to enforce federal immigration laws and for those officers to cooperate with ICE.
The sheriff’s department has to notify ICE if an undocumented immigrant is booked in the jail, Flores said. The sheriff’s department can’t stop ICE from coming into Lake County, Flores said, but the department would report any instances of federal agents not following their policies and procedures.
“We have policies and procedures that we have to follow. We have to uphold the Constitution. We have to make sure that we keep people’s rights in mind and make sure their rights are protected, whether on one side or another,” Flores said.
The sheriff’s department has to honor ICE detainers, under state law, or the county could be sued, Gore said. As sheriff, he would honor ICE detainers, Gore said.
The federal government has jurisdiction over immigration, Gore said. The Lake County Sheriff does not have authority to stop ICE from coming into the county to work a mission, but as sheriff Gore said he wouldn’t offer Lake County Sheriff’s officers “to augment their efforts.”
“If they come in and they want to work their immigration mission, I have no control over that. But I’m not going to join forces. We have so many other things that we need to focus on and immigration is not one simply because it’s not our jurisdiction,” Gore said.
Jenkins said he will follow all laws in a way that doesn’t violate a person’s due process rights.
“We will make sure that every citizen is treated with respect and dignity, but we will follow the constitution and the law,” Jenkins said.
Sanchez said as sheriff he’d uphold and defend the constitutional rights of all Lake County citizens from federal overreach.
“I don’t think we need to be doing ICE raids in Lake County unless they know that there is a serious threat,” Sanchez said. “People have the right to lawfully protest. As long as they are doing it legally and lawfully, as sheriff, I will defend their right to do that.”
If elected, Trajkovich said she’d follow federal laws when it comes to cooperating with ICE. If an undocumented immigrant commits a crime, he or she will be held in the county jail and turned over to the federal government.
“We have to cooperate, but I’m not going to allow any nonsense where our officers are running out and looking for undocumented people or profiling just to get an arrest,” Trajkovich said.
Williams said everyone wants safe and secure borders and for criminals to be put in jail. But, the tactics ICE has been deploying in recent months are similar to when police officers used dogs, fire hoses and batons on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, when 600 Black people marched from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights and were attacked by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Williams said.
Under the new law, Williams said he’s concerned that the ICE officers won’t be properly trained and then deployed throughout the state.
“I can’t stop ICE from doing what they do … but I certainly can make sure that our officers are not participating in anything that violates people’s constitutional rights in that respect. I’ll stand in front with our communities to say that this is unacceptable behavior,” Williams said.
Crane said he would follow laws that require sheriffs to notify ICE if an undocumented person is arrested and brought to the jail. Crane said he’d like Lake County Sheriff’s officers to be present during ICE operations because the sheriff’s officers have body cameras.
“I support the right of citizens to protest, but it must be done peacefully and without obstructing emergency traffic, which could impede access to hospitals and other essential services,” Crane said.
The state legislature passed a bill that would allow for a constitutional amendment to state if someone commits a crime other than murder or treason then a judge could deny bail if there is strong evidence against the defendant or if prosecutors present evidence that withholding bail will ensure the safety of others.
The law will lead to an increase in the jail population, which is already high, Flores said. When the legislature was being debated by the legislature, Flores said as the vice president of the Indiana Association of the Chiefs of Police, he testified against the bill.
“If it’s a non-violent crime, we have to make sure we do what we can to make those people held accountable. However, if we could get them on some low-level ankle monitoring program, if it’s appropriate, we have to do those things,” Flores said.
If a judge decides that the person is a threat to society or a flight risk, then that person should be held, Gore said.
“Does that help the overcrowding? Probably not. But I think this is more of a nuclear option because (judges) are not going to seek this every time,” Gore said. “There are circumstances that the judges could invoke this in and make our communities safer, and that I would support.”
Overcrowding in the jail is an issue, Jenkins said, so it’s “imperative” that people struggling with mental health issues, addiction or committed a nonviolent crime aren’t criminalized.
“I would not be in favor of signing no bail on any crime,” Jenkins said. “We have to work with the courts to ensure that nonviolent people who are not a threat to society can be released and become, somehow, productive members of society.”
Sanchez said felony charges receive a high bond, while many people arrested for driving on a suspended license can’t afford their bond. Sanchez said he’s seen many men held for many months, even years, and then being found innocent.
“They don’t get that time back. I think that’s a very intimate situation that demands more respect than we’re giving it right now,” Sanchez said. “I think everyone should be considered innocent until proven guilty,” Sanchez said.
Trajkovich said a sheriff has to follow state laws, but what she would do to address jail overcrowding is curb the current culture of encouraging more arrests.
“That would eliminate some of the crowding because if they are competing to arrest more then what happens is we get more people in the jail,” Trajkovich said.
Williams said he would bring all stakeholders, like judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, together “to figure out how we holistically address overcrowding in the jail system.” Williams said his biggest concern is the impact the new law will have on Black and brown communities.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the jail population decreased and was successful, Williams said.
“We need to put that same level of attention into dealing with overcrowding in the jail on a daily fashion not just when we have an epidemic,” Williams said.
Crane said he would collaborate with judges and the prosecutor’s office to reduce delays. Crane said he would also work with courts and religious communities to transfer some people to halfway homes.
“I would also like to work with our local unions to see if we can get some of our inmates with misdemeanor cases in their apprenticeship programs. Lastly, if necessary, I will request the county council to establish a night court to further expedite processing,” Crane said.
