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6 vie for office of Bath County Sheriff
David Bratton
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
WARM SPRINGS - David Bratton doesn't have a background in law enforcement or criminal justice, but he says those currently in law enforcement "have been there and they haven't done the job." Therefore he has decided to run for the office of sheriff in Bath.
Bratton said he didn't feel things would change if any of the other candidates are elected sheriff. "Some of them say there is a drug problem," he said, but he doesn't see them doing anything to change the way things are done. Bratton feels illegal drugs are the No. 1 problem in Bath County.
"People in the county are getting rich on (drugs)," Bratton claims, and nothing is being done about it. The county should have had a drug dog, he said, and should be more aggressive in enforcement.
"We've got to get in the schools and educate kids," Bratton said. They need to see how bad these drugs are, "really see it," he said.
In addition, he doesn't feel the sheriff's department has been responsive to citizens. "People aren't getting return calls," Bratton said. "When I'm elected, and I said when, not if, every call that comes in, somebody will be back with them."
Bratton feels the department has more than enough deputies to handle the duties of the department if they had proper leadership. He has always worked with small crews, he said. "Too many people can get in each other's way."
Deputies begin their shifts when they get in their vehicles at home and end the shift back in their own driveway, Bratton said. That's their "eight hours," he added. Most people would like a job like that, Bratton said.
More information should be available to citizens and it would be if he were sheriff, Bratton said. "We live in a small community. People know what is going on." But, he added, "What they think they know might be worse than what is going on."
Bratton understands minors and victims should be protected, but he thinks law enforcement hides behind "protecting the investigation" more than necessary. The lack of information "shouldn't happen," he said.
The law has to be fair for everybody and not based on name or who you are, said Bratton, "The law is the law."
About the
candidate
¦ David M. Bratton, 51 ¦ 30 years with Fisher Auto Parts. ¦ Operates A&D store and restaurant with wife Angie. ¦ Lives next to store on Route 39.
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