What are the three main reasons you are running for this office? Do you see any potential conflicts of interest?

I have served as Detective and Supervisor of the Narcotics Criminal Interdiction and K9 Unit Supervisor/Handler for the past 3 years at the Harris County Constable Office Precinct 3. I first began pursuing my passion for law enforcement in 2004 as a reserve Texas Certified Peace Officer in Montgomery County Precinct 4. Throughout the next 15 years of my career, I have been fully committed to the disruption of narcotics possession and trafficking along with illegal alien smuggling and human trafficking. I currently hold an Advanced Peace Officer Certification and will obtain my Master Peace Officer Certification in January of 2020. I have over 3,000 hours of continuing education hours with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE.) Outside of being a peace officer, I am an entrepreneur and have successfully managed several of my own businesses. With my extensive education, training, experience, and management skills, I believe I am the best candidate to meet and exceed the duties and expectations of the Constable of Montgomery County Precinct 4.

Please describe what you believe are the most significant issues in this race, why and what you'll do to address them?

Two of the most significant issues in this race are integrity and accountability. I fully believe that public officials are expected to be accountable for their actions to their constituencies and the public they serve. I also believe that public officials have a moral obligation to serve the public ethically. Public officials must distinguish from what is right or wrong, know what their core beliefs are and will stand firm for what they believe in. As Constable, I plan on implementing a transparent policy for all staff members to have open and effective communication with leadership and with each other. I believe that this will lead to a respectful and ethical Constable’s Office.

What is your position on the public's right to record police or other government officials on public property?

I believe taking pictures or recording things that are plainly visible from public spaces is a constitutional right. I don’t have any problem with anyone exercising their constitutional rights, unless they break the laws in doing so, i.e. trespassing or interfering. However, people must realize that it is possible their cameras may be seized in some circumstances, if police have a reasonable belief that it contains evidence of a crime.

What is your position on dash/body cams & public availability of those videos?

I believe dash and body cameras are great tools for law enforcement and the public. These cameras create transparency and accountability by proving or disproving police misconduct allegations; therefore, would also weed out unethical or illegal actions taken by the officers themselves. Public availability of those videos is a tricky situation because I do not believe that all videos should be available to an individual who has no particular interest in a case. Some videos may contain sensitive information that could affect the outcome of an ongoing investigation. However, these videos should be fully available to prosecutors and defense attorneys before a trial occurs in a criminal case.

Who is endorsing you and what is their relationship to you?

I have been endorsed by some Republican Precinct Chairs in Precinct 4, Police Chief of Patton Village Shannon Sharp, C.O.P.S. (Coalition of Police and Sheriffs,) Asst. Chief of Huffman Fire Department Ricky Hancock, numerous police officers who are friends and colleagues, and community leaders. I am still in the process of earning other endorsements, hopefully by the Montgomery County Tea Party, too.

Please describe the concrete goals against which you want to be measured in the coming term.

The main duties of a Constable are serving civil process. My goal is to work with the Justice of the Peace to provide an electronic civil process serving system for fast and efficient process serving for the deputies. I also want to implement and/or improve several divisions within the department, Narcotics Criminal Interdiction Unit, DWI Division, Traffic Division, and Environmental Crime Division. I want to administer community-oriented policing measures to deter criminal activity through citizen involvement and establish integration between residents and police; establish a Silver Watch Program to watch over our beloved seniors; create youth development programs; and open an Animal Shelter for East Montgomery County to combat the epic amount of stray animals in our community.

Please list all civic, political, and union organizations or individuals to whom you have contributed in the past five years.

-Montgomery County Republican Party

-Montgomery County Young Republicans

-Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas (CLEAT)

-Coalition of Police & Sheriffs (C.O.P.S.)

-Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA)

-Texas Narcotics Officer Association (TNOA)

-K9 Officer Organization

-NRA member

To what extent do you believe the state or federal government should be able to obtain court orders directing parents to do things for their children that the parent does not believe should be done?

The office I am running for is Constable, so this question does not really apply to the policies in my office. However, I believe in limited government and that the government, state and federal, should stay out of people’s business as much as possible.

Please list all conservative groups for which you are or have been a member, and list any positions held in each group.

-Montgomery County Republican Party

-Montgomery County Young Republicans

Please describe the changes you will make to improve the efficiency of the office for which you are running.

Two of the main functions of the Constable’s office are to work side by side with the Justice of the Peace to serve civil process and provide services to the JP (which has traffic warrants as one of its main responsibilities.) Currently, the Precinct 4 Constable’s office has an inadequate Civil Processing Division and does not have a Warrants Division at all. I want to implement a Civil Processing division that can operate and function adequately in a timely manner to process papers and return to the courts. I also want to create a Warrants Division that works directly with the Justice of the Peace to unburden the Sheriff’s department and dispatch.

Please describe your position on the proper balance of parental rights and the welfare of the child. Please include a couple of examples.

The office I am running for is Constable, so this question does not really apply to the policies in my office. But, I personally believe that parents have the fundamental right to the care and custody of their children. But this fundamental right is not absolute. If a child is suspected to have been abused or neglected by his or her parents then an investigation should be launched and a risk assessment should be performed to protect the child from further abuse.

What's your position on red-flag laws, expansion of background checks to private firearms sales, imposing civil liability on sellers of firearms, or any additional regulation of the private sales of firearms?

My duties as Constable is to follow and enforce the laws. It is NOT to make new laws or legislate from the Constable's office. I’d leave that to the legislators in Austin.

How will you improve the transparency and access to financial and other records for the public?

I believe it is important to fully disclose all financial records to the public. As Constable, I want to implement a high level of transparency to the public. I believe that this transparency does not currently exist in this department. The public has the right to know what public officials are spending their tax dollars on, so giving them full access to the department financial information is the right thing to do. As far as other records are concerned, as a law enforcement agency, certain records must be redacted before being given to the general public to protect personal and private information of individual citizens. I will implement open-door policies between our department and the public in order to better connect, communicate, and educate those I serve to form long-lasting relationships.

What are the top 3 areas where the budget for this office needs to be adjusted?

The 1st area where the budget needs to be adjusted is the command staff. I would reduce the amount of command staff, it is too top-heavy and those inflated salaries can be used to hire more deputies to patrol the precinct.

The second area is the cost of vehicle maintenance. The department is spending an exuberant amount of money on vehicles maintenance because the vehicles are old. Instead of putting so much money into repairing old vehicles that keep breaking down, I would purchase new vehicles to replace the old ones to minimize maintenance costs. I would also train the deputies in the department to have better driving skills to reduce fleet liability and expenses.

The third area is to provide better training for officers to reduce lawsuits liability for the county. The lack of education and training in Precinct 4 Constable’s office is costing the county a lot of money because the county is responsible for any lawsuits that are against the department.

Is there anything in your background of an embarrassing nature that should be explained before your election? Arrests/Convictions? Bankruptcys?

No, I do not have anything in my background of an embarrassing nature. I have never been arrested or convicted. And I have never filed for bankruptcy.

How should the sheriff/constable handle corruption in his department, even when he thinks there isn't any?

As Constable, I will demand the highest level of conduct and integrity within the department. First, I will set policy in place that spells out our ethical mission and a set of standards that all officers must strictly adhere to. Second, leadership plays in important role in police work, and the head of the unit is ultimately responsible for its success as well as for its failure. Strong and ethical leadership must exist and be in place. These supervisors must set the tone for the department and lead by example. Lastly, I will take great strides in making sure the department doesn’t hire candidates who have low ethical standards by screening them thoroughly. For those already onboard, appropriately reprimand the ones whose conduct might compromise the department’s integrity is the necessary to weed out unscrupulous and unethical individuals.

How much of a problem is county hiring based on the "good old boy" / "loyalty to leadership" instead of one's ability to efficiently and ethically perform their tasks and functions? and what can realistically be done about it?

The “good old boy” system of hiring is like a cancer, it eats away at the staff until the only experienced ones left are disgruntled and unhappy. East Montgomery County is well-known for its “good old boy” system. It can begin as friends promoting friends, and continuing until the supervising officers are all friends and relatives. They’re skipping qualified and experienced applicants for buddies and/or family members. What can be done about it is to put policy in place to hire strictly based on qualifications and experience only and promoting from a list of qualified candidates after passing a promotional exam, promoting within a department can improve moral and it incentivizes employees to perform better, but only if the candidate is qualified.

What is your position on taking federal money for your department?

There is a blurred line between accepting federal money to run a county police department. On one hand, federal grants provide the necessary funding to purchase equipment, provide training, and to run different programs such as the war on drugs, traffic safety, or human trafficking. On the other hand, taking federal money means the department is forced to focus on doing federal government’s bidding instead of focusing on local crimes and issues. Cutting funding is never easy. It’d take the local governing body and state legislatures to change the current system.

How would your election affect you financially?

I am not running for Constable for financial gains. My election will not financially affect me in any way, negatively or positively. I have lived in Precinct 4 for most of my adult life and I have seen the increased deterioration of my community over the years, and it saddens me to see such a high level of crimes and drugs trafficking in East Montgomery. These are some of the main reasons I am running for this office. I know I can make a difference to make my community safer and improve the lives of my family, neighbors, and friends.