We are fortunate to have Bill Benedict as our sheriff.
He has used his law enforcement experience and Navy commander leadership skills to turn around our sheriff’s department and make it one of the best in the state.
When Bill Benedict took over as sheriff 12 years ago the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office had lost its accreditation and had been the subject of allegations of misconduct, some of which resulted in lawsuits.
Under Bill’s leadership the sheriff’s office regained its accreditation by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, which involves meeting well over 100 different standards for best practices and policies.
In addition, in 2017 Bill succeeded in having the Clallam County jail become the first county jail in the state to be accredited.
Bill understands the importance of involving the whole community.
The number of active neighborhood watch organizations has increased drastically to over 100 during his tenure.
Community policing is an important element for maintaining law and order with less than 30 patrol deputies in a county larger than the State of Delaware.
And Sheriff Benedict has done all this while maintaining a tight rein on the expenditure of our tax dollars.
He is the exception among public officials in that every year he returns hundreds of thousands of dollars in budgeted and unspent funds rather than seeing how his department can spend the money at the end of the fiscal year.
Bill Benedict has earned my trust. He deserves our vote for another term.
Kaj Ahlburg
Port Angeles