Strokes from Other Pens

Letter to the Editor,

Hello, I am Darrell Smith, currently employed with the Haxtun Police Department, and I am here to announce my intention to run for the office of Phillips County Sheriff in this year's special election.

I want to become the Sheriff for Phillips County so that I may continue to do what I have done the majority of my life, which is serve. I come from a long line of United States Service members. I myself Served in the United States Navy, serving through Sept. 11 and was part of the first Expeditionary Strike Group as a spearhead to Operation Iraqi Freedom. After I completed my term of service I was honorably discharged where I went on to complete my college education in business and accounting, graduating with Honors.

My law enforcement career began with the Colorado Department of Corrections, where I served for 10 years, promoting from the rank of Officer to Lieutenant. I became a member of the Emergency Response Team, achieving the title of Squad Leader within my seven years of service to the team. I left the prison to become a Deputy with Phillips County Sheriff’s Office, where I served until moving to the Haxtun Police Department.

I moved to Haxtun three years ago, where my family and I live. We purchased a home near the school, where our children attend school and participate in sports. I took on a position on the Haxtun Health Board of Directors, where I continue to build relationships and help where I can. The more I invest in the community the more I want to help.

My time with the Haxtun Police Department has helped my development as a police officer, and the relationship built with the Holyoke Police Department has helped bridge the law enforcement community, which helps provide a service to both the Haxtun and Holyoke communities. Working for the Haxtun Police Department and working with Holyoke Police Department, I have noticed a spike in crimes not only being committed within these two communities, but the county as a whole. Drugs and thefts are on the rise. This is a community where families feel OK leaving their doors unlocked while they run to the store and more than anything I feel a drive to help the community as well as my own family, continue to feel that safety.

I would like to strengthen community resources within the law enforcement and first responders to help return the feeling of safety to the community and ensure that the level of service being provided but the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office is up to not only my personal standard as a member of the community, but the standard of the community it serves.