Jenkins cites experience, knowledge of county

Liz Mitchell / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: October 26, 2007

Scott Jenkins has 18 years of continuous law enforcement experience as a patrol officer, supervisor, criminal investigations lieutenant and now is a sergeant with the Culpeper Police Department.

He has taken a leave of absence from his current position to pursue his run for sheriff of Culpeper County, and believes he is better suited for the job than his opponent, Jim Branch, because he knows the community better and has more years of service.

He admits his campaign has been hurt by his involvement with the investigation of County Sheriff H. Lee Hart, but he doesn't back away from reporting the allegations that he did and says he did the right thing at the expense of his reputation.

"I was a lieutenant of CID (criminal investigations division) and people came to me with problems and I did what I should to report it properly and have it investigated and I don't back away from it at all," he said. "The overtime issue - there are thousands of dollars there that was never investigated and he won't be sheriff after Dec. 31. He is not protected by the Attorney General's Office then. We may have the same or different prosecutors in Culpeper next year, we'll see."

In a recent interview with the Star-Exponent, here's what Jenkins had to say on the issues:

Why is a regional jail a better approach than the current plan-

"Rappahannock, Warren and Shenandoah - all are actively pursuing a regional jail right now. I would say there is an opportunity to join in with one at the ground level. A lot of planning has gone into constructing this facility at Mitchells.

They are going to build a 408-bed jail; we only have a 100 average daily population. With 408 beds, Fauquier houses 200 at Winchester's jail; Rappahannock never has more than a couple dozen.

"But if you took Culpeper's 100, Fauquier's 200 and Rappahannock's whatever — that clearly gets you close to filling that 400 bed jail and you split the cost of all those employees."
Jenkins said Fauquier County paid $2 million to join Winchester's regional jail and pays an additional $2 million a year to house about 200 inmates.

"Stop and think, Culpeper only has 100 inmates and it costs $2.6 million for 100 inmates in our jail a year," he said. "Fauquier is housing twice the amount of inmates in a regional jail for less money now. Why can't we look at that number alone and say, hey this works-"

He advocates keeping Culpeper's current jail as an area for work-release inmates, as well as keeping all current employees.
"We are at a point that, truly, we cannot afford this jail," he said. "It is time to hold this project and look at it from a different angle and join resources with other counties."

How would you pursue the regional jail option-

"I would immediately meet with the committee and board members to give them my ideas," he said. "I am no authority on the subject of jails. I'm just looking at it from a common-sense approach, an officer that's worked in the jails, knows the sheriff's office and understands the duties of transporting, and I communicate a lot with the other counties around here."

What is your relationship with the candidates for commonwealth's attorney and Police Chief Scott Barlow-

"Kevin, I've only had a few cases where he's been defense attorney. It's been a good working relationship," he said. "The chief, of course, still getting to know him. He's been great to work with so far. Gary, of the three, I know him better and we worked together for so many years and we became close working relationships on homicides and things where you spend a lot of hours outside the courtroom preparing and working on cases. I know him the best."

What is your stance on gangs in Culpeper and would this be a problem if you differed with the commonwealth's attorney-

"The commonwealth attorney is limited to the intelligence and information brought to them by law enforcement. It's our job to investigate," he said. "My stance on gangs is very clear. I want a proactive, aggressive approach on gangs. There will be one. We will network with the northern Virginia task forces, their databases; everything will come into play to help us make the strongest approach we can on targeting gangs."

He said gangs start targeting youth when they're very young.

"We need to hit it head on. Otherwise, we will see the same problems and learn through the same mistakes that northern Virginia agencies already have," he said. "And when you have them there, ready and willing and able to come here, help train us at no cost, why not work with them to target it-"

Is it an issue of gangs infiltrating the school system or coming to Culpeper to commit crimes-

"Gang members coming here to our community and trying to apply their trade, through organized activities, false identification cards, to prostitution to drugs, all of those things are in play," he said. "They also have matter of recruitment. The same way people here commute to northern Virginia, these gang members are now moving here. ... They know the resources here are less, the training is less and they can easily assimilate."

Five years ago, the average police officer would not be able to identify gang members because he or she wasn't trained to know what to look for, Jenkins said. He wants to change that.

What other kinds of training do you want to pursue for deputies if elected sheriff-

"Basic law-enforcement certification is not an issue for many sheriffs. It's not required. But I don't feel that way," he said. "Fifty-eight percent of the department is currently certified in basic law enforcement; that's not good enough for me, 100 percent needs to be. There's no reason why we shouldn't hold them above minimum standards.

The deputies stand ready, willing and able to be trained, but they haven't been given the opportunity, Jenkins said.

Jenkins also wants to see all school resource officers and DARE officers certified in basic SWAT tactics.

"So if there is a school-violence incident, that first responder that is already on the scene will be better prepared to handle it, provide intelligence and briefings to incoming units and it's a better system all the way around," he said. "The highest density population we have in this county on any given weekday is on Achievement Drive or over at the other two schools on 15."

How would we pay for the training-

"The money is very simple. We pay a flat fee based on the number of deputies we have in the sheriff's office. There is 95 sworn. We pay the same fee to regional academy every year if one officer attends basic law enforcement training or all 95. The difference comes in the manipulation of your scheduling, and overtime and things that you'd run into to get officers off to go to the training (14 to 16 weeks long), or food and lodging and ammunition used in the classes."

Jenkins said 42 officers still need the training, whom he could rotate in thirds and get certified within one year.

Is there resistance to the training-

"No, those officers have pleaded for it for years," he said. "It's not just this Sheriff's Office - they are looking at their department as it helps them. If they train a jailer, he will often apply elsewhere and leave. If not trained, they aren't as marketable an officer to be hired elsewhere.

Jenkins said the training goes hand-in-hand with his goals for a better grievance procedure.

"You won't find a sheriff in this state that wants to do that because they serve at their pleasure," he said. "I've lived it, I've worked in that position for years. I think in this day and time, to me, it's part of moving toward a more professional agency. You should have officers who are willing to come there. Why should he be terminated or demoted simply because he didn't campaign or do the right thing politically for the incoming sheriff- It shouldn't have any bearing."

Would you keep deputies employed if they are openly supporting Jim Branch-

"That has no bearing. I look at the officer," he said. "Those officers are doing the best they can in a difficult situation. I lived through four elections in my career. It's a very awkward position and I don't want them to have to live through it anymore."

Jenkins said when he was working for Sheriff Hart, it was mandated to campaign for him and any promotions would depend on it.

On your campaign signs that were too large and cut into thirds: was that creative thinking or an attempt to skirt the law-

"The signs were clearly not an attempt to skirt the law," he said. "We had talked with Maxie Brown, zoning administrator, and she said it would be legal to cut the signs. I felt that if I had people who felt strongly about it that wanted a change that would be one thing; but when it's just the opposition trying to point a finger at something, I haven't given it any great thought because I know that it's legal. I thought it was a good idea and cost effective."

Do you think it's a conflict of interest to accept donations from Commonwealth's Attorney Gary Close-

"No," Jenkins said, reaffirming that he would not be beholden to anyone.

On the Social Security number accusation, did you display Hart's information to others-

"I did not display the Social Security number on the PowerPoint presentation," Jenkins said. "That is completely false. I did not display the Social Security number on the Internet when it was on the Web site. It was blocked out on the same form, because it was the same form.

Did you ever show the forms to people before the numbers were blocked out-

"I did," he said. "Certain government officials had those documents to view and I don't see there's any problem with that. It's only ever been my intent to show this is a true document."

There are henchmen on both sides of the campaign; did you ever not want to be associated with them-

"Family, friends, associates, all of those people have emotions that run high when the people they care about are being attacked and targeted," he said. "I think it's an unfortunate part of the politics and, sadly, I think it changes people by going through this process. ... But I didn't do anything for the wrong reasons."

What makes you the better candidate-

"I feel I truly am the better candidate because of my knowledge and experience as an officer and a supervisor — being more of both," he said. "My years have been continuous 18 years unbroken, a majority of those have been right here in Culpeper. I have a rapport and good relationship with officers in the department and outside of the department. I know the issues they face and I have clear stated goals of what I will implement and hope to achieve. ... I lead from the front and by example and I do not stick my head in the sand when things come up that are a problem."

Liz Mitchell can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or