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| A passion for law enforcement |
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2/15/2019
By Brianna Stephens
Advocate Staff writer
With a busy start to the new year, Montgomery County Sheriff David Charles said he is ready to continue serving his community in his new role.
“The job itself has reenergized me,” Charles said. “It has been really exciting.”
During his first weeks in office, Charles, the former Mt. Sterling police chief, said the sheriff’s office. has been implementing changes rapidly and is having great success so far. He added in just the first six weeks, he is already on the six month of his plans.
“We’re well ahead of where we wanted to be,” Charles said.
However, the dept. faced the loss of K9 Viper in January. Viper died after facing the onset of an aggressive cancer, Charles previously told the Advocate.
Fundraising efforts are in place to help the office afford another K9.
In addition to fundraising, the dept. is on track in its accreditation efforts, and a four-year plan has been put into place, Charles said.
The plan includes items such as:
Earning accreditation
Putting a fleet replacement plan in place for the office
Diversifying offices between Mt. Sterling and Jeffersonville
The City of Jeffersonville gave the office a facility to work out of, which has been used for training and other purposes, Charles said.
The office will also be collecting taxes from that location this year, he added.
Preparing to launch a highway safety initiative
Montgomery County is one of the top 25 counties for serious accidents, Charles said.
To combat that number, the office will receive grants from the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety for overtime and equipment to work high accident areas.
Charles added his office has mapped out accident areas for the county and will be addressing them. Lowering speed limits in some congested areas and having adequate speed limit postings in areas are also in the works with the state highway dept., he said.
Working on the local High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program.
Montgomery and Powell counties received HIDTA designations in October 2018.
The program was created with the purpose of bringing additional federal resources to regions of the country determined to be critical areas in which high intensity drug trafficking was occurring.
LAW ENFORCEMENT BACKGROUND
While working for the police dept. under police chief Michael Schnell, Charles helped create a local drug unit from scratch.
After working more than 12 years with the program, Charles said it is one several agencies in the state to look to as a model for a drug unit thanks to those who have worked to help it grow.
In addition to working in drug investigations during his 31 years of law enforcement experience, Charles has served in positions from “hubcaps to homicides” as a patrol officer, detective, sergeant, captain and police chief.
He has worked in Mt. Sterling since 1991.
With a strong passion for law enforcement, Charles said he wasn’t ready to stop serving the community when he retired from his police chief position of almost eight years in July 2018 and made the decision to run for sheriff.
“I wasn’t ready to quit,” Charles said. “I felt that I had more to give and more I wanted to do ... I want to give back to my community. I love my community. They deserve the very best and that’s what we’re going to strive to give them.”
Outside of law enforcement, Charles has a passion for the community and serving others, as he is involved in a number of boards and organizations.
“You have to be part of your community if you want to serve your community,” Charles said. “A leader can’t isolate himself and then think he can be an effective leader in the community because you have to be approachable ... Titles are conferred, leadership is earned.”
Being an approachable leader is something Charles said he will strive to make the supervisors and leaders in his office through trainings and participation in Leadership Montgomery County.
As he continues in his new position, Charles said he is grateful for those he has met so far in the community and for his family’s continued support.
Charles and the office can be followed or contacted on several social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, with questions or concerns.
“I care about (the community’s) problems, and we’re trying to address as many as we can and we’ll continue to do so every day,” Charles said.
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