Name: Charles I. Tobery Jr.

Party affiliation: Democrat

Place of residence: Emmitsburg

Date of birth: Oct. 1, 1963

Place of birth: Frederick

Current occupation: Lieutenant, Department of Campus Safety, Hood College

Education: 1981 Graduate Frederick High School; criminal justice major at Frederick Community College; law and society major at Hood College (participating in Hood’s Degree Portfolio Program)

Community associations, involvement: Frederick Christian Fellowship Church; Frederick Amvets Sons; Frederick Elks; Frederick Sons of the American Legion; Frederick FSK Lions; A.F.A.M. Philanthropic New Market Masonic Lodge, 3rd Master Mason Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Orient of Maryland Pheasants Forever; life member, New Midway Volunteer Fire Company; licensed Maryland small business owner.

Professional associations: Frederick County Public Schools Safe and Drug Free School Advisory Committee, Frederick County Underage Drinking & Drug Prevention Task Force, Frederick County Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Task Force, Frederick County Substance Abuse Advisory Council (past vice chair), National Association of School Resource Officers, Maryland Association of School Resource Officers (past regional director), and Maryland Association of School Security Professionals.

Family: Wife, Robin, two teenage daughters.

Campaign office address and telephone: P.O. Box 571, Walkersville, MD, 21793.

Candidate’s Web site: www.toberyforsheriff.com

Link to state Board of Elections campaign finance database

I have dedicated my life and my career to public service. As a former volunteer firefighter and as a retired sergeant with the Sheriff’s Office, I have more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, spending my entire career in the major divisions of the Sheriff’s Office including: the corrections bureau at the Detention Center, management capacity at the law enforcement center, and in the schools.

I want to continue to serve the people of Frederick County by being a leader who demonstrates character and integrity in everything I do. To me, becoming your next sheriff is the next logical progression in public service for me.

As sheriff, I will:

* Increase the Sheriff’s Office’s presence in the community through the concept of community policing, focusing on reducing and preventing crime by increasing interaction and cooperation between the Sheriff’s Office and the communities they serve. I will work diligently to enhance the working relationship between the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Frederick City Police Department, Maryland State Police, and all local police departments as well as the fire and rescue;

* Emphasize school safety by enhancing the School Resource Officer Program, the program I developed and implemented in my capacity as commander in January 2000, until I retired in August 2005. As a result, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office was awarded the ‘‘Model Agency” in 2005.

My goal is simple: I want to ensure an environment where students feel safe to learn, and teachers feel safe to teach. I will add a narcotics canine to one of the school resource officers as a preventive measure to enforce Frederick County Public Schools’ Zero Tolerance for drugs.

I will also have deputies trained as substitute school resource officer in an effort to have a resource officer in the schools each and every day. I will work with the Frederick County Public Schools to develop an anti-bullying program and promote gang education training in the schools;

* Focus on highway safety issues and combat aggressive driving with a zero-tolerance policy. I will also coordinate with various agencies in an attempt to improve traffic flow for commuters;

* Lead by example and be in regular contact with employees at all levels, whether on the road, in the detention center, courthouse, or in the schools. It is not in my nature to micromanage, but in order to properly fulfill the role as sheriff, I will be in touch with what’s going on in the field;

* Be an advocate of the people under my command. I will carefully review the upper level management structure to ensure that each position is providing a benefit to the citizens and the agency;

* Focus on recruitment and retention by hiring the best staff I can, one that is rich with cultural diversity, thus making Frederick County Sheriff’s Office an attractive place to work;

* Be fiscally responsible and will not ask the county commissioners to fund items that do not directly enhance the performance of duties or benefit public safety. However, I will ensure that deputies, correctional officers and victim services have what they need to do their jobs safely, effectively and efficiently;

* Make victim assistance a top priority to ensure that victim’s rights and needs are met. I pledge to expand the excellent victim services we already have both at the law enforcement center and at the detention center, and to cross train law enforcement and victim services personnel;

* Aggressively pursue criminals who use the Internet to torment their victims through crimes such as cyber-stalking, and identity theft, and predators who actively target women and children and work closely with various agencies such as the State’s Attorney’s Office to ensure successful prosecution;

* Promote and ensure a safe work environment for the correctional officers and staff, and continue with all efforts to make the detention center safe and secure. As I started my career with the Sheriff’s Office in the correction’s bureau, I am keenly aware of the needs of the correctional officers, the staff and the inmates;

* In light of the horrors we witnessed during 9⁄11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, it’s commendable that Frederick County has established a terrorism⁄emergency preparedness plan. As sheriff, I will communicate that plan to the residents to ensure that they know what do to in the event of an emergency.

It is critical that we elect a sheriff who is familiar with all of the operations of the Sheriff’s Office. Someone who will not be satisfied with the ‘‘status quo,” but someone with a vision to move the agency in the right direction. That someone is Chuck Tobery.