Warrick County Sheriff

Kerry Chapman

 

Be Seen And Be Responsible To Our Community

Bio

Kerry Chapman's family is very important to him, and he is very proud of his family; and very proud to be a part of his family.  Kerry is the son of the late Jerry Chapman, and Shirley Chapman Hollon.  His father was a union coal miner, and his mother is a retired Warrick County school teacher.  Kerry's step-father of 27 years is Tom Hollon.

Kerry have two siblings, Kim Winsett and Kelly Chapman. Kim is employed by the University of Evansville and Kelly is a Teacher here in Warrick County. Both Kim and Kelly are raising their families here in Warrick County.

He has been married to his wife Wendy for 27 years and they have three children, Kody, Kip, and Keri Jo.  Kody and Kip have expanded their family with three grandchildren, Kuper, Ketan, and Kylee.

Kerry graduated from Boonville High School in 1979, and continued his formal education at Ball State University, graduating in 1983, with a Bachelor of Science degree.  After becoming a Boonville Police Officer in 1984, he attended and graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 1985.

In 1983, while attending a Boonville High School football game at Gibson Southern, he was approached by then Boonville Mayor, Tom Pryor.  Mayor Pryor asked him if he had ever considered a career as a police officer.  Tom indicated there were some possible retirements coming in the near future and he felt that Kerry would be a good candidate to become a police officer.  He met Mayor Pryor the next morning and they discussed the possibility further, and then the Mayor suggested he speak to then Boonville Police Chief Jerry Fuller.  Within a few months, he began working part-time as a Boonville Police Officer and his law enforcement career began.

In 1986, Warrick County Sheriff Elect, Jeff Gore, offered him a position as a sheriff’s deputy and Kerry has been with the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office since January 1, 1987.  Early on in his law enforcement career, his goals as a police officer involved providing our residents with a safe community as well as representing his profession in a manner that promotes positive public opinion towards law enforcement agencies in our community.  Throughout the last 26 years as a sworn police officer, Kerry feels his work ethic has always been positive, and his personal goals and beliefs have had a positive effect on the citizens of Warrick County.

Since becoming a deputy sheriff, he has served the agency in many different capacities.  Kerry's deputy career began as a third shift motor patrol officer.  After about one year, he became a K-9 Handler, and remained in this capacity until 1990, when he became the department’s first full-time narcotics investigator.  In 1993, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant, and began supervising the second shift motor patrol units.  In 1999, Kerry was appointed to the position of chief deputy by then Sheriff, Bruce Hargrave.  In 2003, he returned to his previous position as a sergeant, and day shift motor patrol supervisor.

During his career he trained and certified in many areas associated with his career.  The on-going training and certifications involved local, state, and federal, schools and seminars.  Perhaps the most notable training and certifications, involved his K-9 training certifications, Undercover Officer Training School provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration, and certifications as revolver and pistol armorer through Smith & Wesson and Glock, respectively.

Kerry is most proud of his chief deputy appointment.  During this appointment period, he was number three in the chain of command of the department. His responsibilities covered not only law enforcement, but also included: management of the jail, central dispatch, civil process, and sheriff’s office administrative duties.  He was involved in department wide decisions and responsibilities and assisted with budget development and union contract negotiations.  Kerry's duties also involved fleet management and building maintenance and one of his primary responsibilities as chief deputy involved state inmate billing.  State inmate billing provided income to the Warrick County General Fund, which provided Warrick County with non-property tax monies.

While Kerry was chief deputy, the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office was moving forward.  There were several programs and future improvements in place, but they were lost over the last several years. 

As your sheriff, Kerry will reevaluate those programs and improvements and move them forward to meet his goals for the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office.

Kerry is and always has been a law enforcement officer that believes in a strong police presence in our community. He feels that a high visibility of police in our neighborhoods is a strong deterrent to crime, as well as comforting to our residents.

Goals

Kerry's has numerous goals and objectives he would like to see implemented and if he is elected Sheriff these are as follows:

**High Visibility
Kerry has always been a strong proponent of visibility.  Even in his early years as a Boonville Police Officer, a program was implemented to have standard black and white police vehicles.  Everyone can relate to the effect of seeing a marked police vehicle.  It has been proven through time that marked vehicles promote a police presence, and this presence impacts and promotes the prevention of crime.  This includes traffic enforcement.

Even he looks at his speedometer when he sees a marked police vehicle.  These marked police vehicles must and will be moved back into our subdivisions and business districts.  Kerry will get our marked patrol vehicles off the state highways and back into our communities.

Traffic enforcement on state highways does nothing to deter crime in our subdivisions.

**School Safety
As chief Deputy, Kerry wrote the first grant for a school resource officer in Warrick County.  This grant was complimented by the school corporation obtaining another grant for a second school resource officer.  Warrick County had two full-time school resource officers for our county schools.  We recently obtained another school resource officer through another school corporation grant.  Our school resource officers are very important to our community.  The assignment and presence of these officers in our schools has a very positive impact on the students, teachers, and parents.

Kerry however doesn’t feel that this is enough.  He would like to expand our police presence in the schools and assign deputies to school sponsored events, which are usually after-school programs.  He feels here again that the presence of uniformed officers at these programs and events will deter behavior that is not safe around our children, school staff, and parents.  He also feels we can increase the police presence without incurring heavy costs.

The safety of everyone associated with our schools is of extreme importance and should be a priority.

**Drug Enforcement
Our community is no different from other communities.  We have a drug problem.  This drug problem affects every walk of life in our county.  Drug problems have no socio-economic barriers.  Our jail is a testament to the current drug problem.

How do you fight this problem?  The answer is not a simple one.  Drug enforcement is just one part of the problem.  At least one more full-time narcotics officer is needed by our agency, but manpower is only a small part that is needed to fight this problem.  We also need to coordinate our drug enforcement with the prosecutor’s office, the courts, and the alternative incarceration programs.  Drug treatment programs need to be more available early on in the arrest/prosecution phase.  Early treatment may decrease the rate of repeat drug offenses.  Currently, individuals are repeatedly arrested and allowed to post bond, only to be arrested again and again for the same drug problem.  Specifically, Kerry's speaking of the METH epidemic. METH has impacted all facets of life, here in our community.  METH addiction destroys families.  Most Meth addicts had productive lives prior to becoming addicted.

As sheriff, Kerry will work with all involved agencies to find the solutions to resolving the METH problem.

While those are Kerry's 3 main goals there are still many other areas that he feels work and improvement can be accomplished.

Some additional goals and improvements he will tackle include:

Sheriff’s Sub-Station or South Field Office:
More than half of our population is located in Ohio Township (Newburgh Area).  Our county needs to once again visit this possibility.  Services provided by the sheriff’s office need to be more accessible to this area.  This is not a new idea, but it should be an important issue to address in the near future.

Radio System Upgrade:
Our radio system has been plagued by on-going problems with county-wide coverage.  Although, the terrain of our county prevents perfect coverage, a new alternative is available and needs to be researched thoroughly.  Kerry's referring to the state-wide 800 system.  Warrick County Emergency Management officials are currently pursuing this project.  Recently, new and positive developments are in place to obtain the needed upgrade.  He will work diligently towards the system’s improvement or replacement.

Jail Management:
Recently our jail incurred a breach of security and two dangerous felons escaped.  There were many factors involved in this breach that could have been prevented.  As your sheriff, Kerry will take responsibility personally for any problems in our jail.  He will also make every effort to assign a merit deputy as the jail commander.  The proper supervision of 120 + inmates is an important part of keeping our community safe.

Central Dispatch:
Warrick County Central Dispatch has outgrown the sheriff’s department.  We need to begin researching a stand alone dispatch center and sever its ties to the sheriff’s department.  Our dispatch center answers all 911 calls in Warrick County.  They also dispatch all law enforcement, EMS, and fire agencies in the county.  Kerry feels that central dispatch needs a full-time administrator and they need the proper facility to operate efficiently.  He will work hard to research and implement this change.  One option he would like to pursue would be establishing a facility in the south central part of the county and for this facility to include sufficient space for a new Central Dispatch Center, South Field Operations Office for the sheriff, Emergency Operations Center, and possibly a new Emergency Medical Service Station.

Sheriff’s Office Fiscal Management:
No one can argue how much the current economy has affected our budgets.  Fiscal responsibility is required on all county departments and this responsibility has to be bi-partisan.  Budget management is very important and Kerry will make budget decisions based on need.  Previous involvement in the budget process has provided him with much insight and knowledge.  As your sheriff, he will accept the responsibility of keeping the sheriff’s department costs to a minimum.  All budgetary decisions will be made in the best interests of the county and the sheriff’s department.  Kerry will utilize cost cutting measures to bring down fuel costs without jeopardizing a strong police presence or extending response times.  As your sheriff, he and his command staff will make our department a responsible and efficient agency.

As your sheriff, Kerry will make sure our motor patrol units are patrolling our county’s roadways, as well as patrolling our county’s businesses.  As your sheriff, he will also emphasize positive police / community relations, and increase the law enforcement presence at community based events.

Kerry wants our citizens to be proud of the sheriff’s office and he wants our sheriff’s deputies to be proud to serve Warrick County.  He wants to promote a safe community for all of our citizens, and provide all that is needed to maintain this positive achievement.  Kerry is passionate about his department and he will maintain that passion as Sheriff of Warrick County.

Kerry will work hard for you, and achieve the goals needed to make the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office a community oriented law enforcement agency.

Be Seen And Be Responsible To Our Community