Sheriff debate discusses underage drinking, volunteer police officers
Dwayne Carey and Mick Covington debated at Columbia College Monday night.
Published Oct. 19, 2004
The race for Boone County sheriff heated up Monday night as Democratic candidate Dwayne Carey and Republican candidate Mick Covington discussed everything from community-oriented policing to underage drinking.
Carey and Covington met at Columbia College on Monday night for the debate, which covered myriad community policing concerns.
Carey defeated Sheriff's Department Maj. O.J. Stone and former department Detective Ken Kreigh in the August Democratic primary after receiving the support of longtime, outgoing Sheriff Ted Boehm. Covington ran unopposed for the Republican Party nomination.
Both candidates cited a lack of department personnel to prevent alcohol-related offenses as a main campaign issue.
Carey, a captain with the Boone County Sheriff's Department, said, despite a need for more officers within the department, funding shortages have stretched the department thin.
Carey said the department only has four officers on duty for midnight shifts, adding that he would like to continually expand the department's proactive stance on underage drinking.
Covington, the director of the Missouri Sheriff's Training Academy, said he would like to work hand in hand with local bartenders and convenience store owners to curb underage drinking.
According to the 2003 Campus Safety and Crime Report released this month by the MU Police Department, liquor law arrests have doubled between 2001 and 2003.
In addition, Covington said he wants to improve the department's relationship with agencies such as the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control to help with local alcohol abatement activities.
Both candidates also discussed the use of volunteer officers, disagreeing on the level of involvement the volunteers would have.
Covington proposed a plan to train volunteer sheriff's deputies. In the plan, the deputies would mainly be used for patrolling traffic and would have the ability to arrest suspects.
Carey scoffed at the plan, saying reservists do not have the same skills as trained law enforcement officials and thus, cannot perform the same job.
"Non-certified officers and young people involved in the Explorer program could be utilized to provide traffic assistance and security at community events," Carey said.
Carey and Covington emphasized plans for increasing the amount of officers working in local communities to try to stop crimes before they happen.
"We hope to get at the root of the problem and educate citizens on how to spot crime before it starts," Covington said. "Each subdivision is unique and each municipality is different, so we need to keep informed about each section of our county."