Government : Meet the Candidate: Ronald J. Tippett

Editor's Note: We continue our candidate profiles today by featuring Republican candidate for Sheriff Ronald J. Tippett. As with other candidates, we present his information in his own words:

I would like to thank Vinton Today for the opportunity to submit this article. I am a long time Republican and am running for the Office of Benton County Sheriff.

I am Ronald J. Tippett, 52 years old, and live with wife, Cindy, in Vinton. We have two grown children, Mitchell who lives in Chicago, and Emily and her husband Chris, and 3 granddaughters, Myla, Caraline and Loralei who live in Vinton.

I graduated from La Porte City High School in 1982 and continued my education at Hawkeye Institute of Technology graduating with an AAA degree in Police Science in 1984. I then attended Wartburg College taking classes in Psychology and Criminology.

In 1986 I started working part time at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office as a jailer/dispatcher. While working as a jailer/dispatcher, in 1987 I started working as a reserve officer with the Belle Plaine Police Department. I then moved from part time to full time as a jailer/dispatcher at the Sheriff’s Office and, in 1989, was hired as a full time police officer with the city of Belle Plaine. I then attended and completed the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in 1989 becoming a certified Peace Officer. In 1990 I was appointed Chief of Police in Belle Plaine and served in that capacity for 11 years. In September of 2001, I was hired as a full time Deputy Sheriff for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office where I am currently employed. With 30 years total experience, 27 as a full time certified peace officer including 11 years as Belle Plaine Chief of Police, education, training and experience are an issue in this election. I am the only candidate with any full time law enforcement experience. I am the only candidate with full time law enforcement supervisory and administrative experience and I am the only candidate certified as a full time peace officer which is required to retain the office of Sheriff.

As a former Chief of Police, I have years of experience with staffing and budgets. I will be fiscally responsible while maintaining all of our facilities and equipment. Effective and efficient use of taxpayer’s resources is necessary.

I am running for the office of Sheriff in Benton County with the support of the current Sheriff, Randall Forsyth, and retired Sheriff, Kenneth Popenhagen. As a candidate for this office, I am running with no ax to grind, however, I do have an agenda. I believe the primary function of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office is the protection of the citizens of Benton County through service and enforcement.

The best way to accomplish this goal is through team work. A big piece of team work is communication. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office must partner with, work with, cooperate and communicate with other Law Enforcement agencies at all levels; Local, County, State and Federal agencies. With 8 fulltime Deputies, 2 Detectives, the Chief Deputy and the Sheriff, team work with all Agencies is essential. The biggest part of our team are the citizens of Benton County. Our community as a whole is our largest asset and partner completing our team.

Our Sheriff’s office has several divisions, the patrol and investigations division being the most visible. We have our communications/911 dispatch center manned by our communication specialists, the jail division with our corrections officers, and in house kitchen staff. The business office works with the civil process, records management, and weapons permits. We are fortunate to have a talented and dedicated work force at our Sheriff’s Office. We need to continue with specialized training in areas of interest and skill sets of our employees that will benefit our Sheriff’s Office and our county. I believe that failure to properly train is training to fail.

One of our current issues at hand is drug enforcement and substance abuse issues. Over time, we have seen an increase in emergency hospitalization court orders, often times due to substance abuse. The time spent assisting these people getting help, is very needed, however, the availability and accessibility to this help can be very time consuming and takes our Deputies out of county for many hours to complete the service of the court orders.

A problem throughout our nation is property crimes. Proactive Law Enforcement and utilizing a team approach to Law Enforcement are our best tools to combat these crimes. The importance of our citizens reporting crimes, and being involved is of great value to Law Enforcement.

I would like to utilize empty jail beds in our county jail by boarding inmates for other Law Enforcement agencies to help with the cost of jail operation. With many of the agencies in the surrounding areas having updated their jail facilities, it has become increasingly difficult to fill these beds with inmates from other agencies.

Professional organizations that I am a member of include the Benton County Peace Officers Association where I am currently the Vice President and have been the President, Vice President and Secretary in the past. I am also a member of the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association and the Law Enforcement Intelligence Network (LEIN). I have served as the Benton County Public Information Officer since 2001, assisting in the emergency preparedness drills with the Duane Arnold Energy center.

I am an active member of the Vinton Lions Club where I have been past president. I am a member of the Vinton Presbyterian Church where I was a past deacon.

I believe the issues in this election come down to education, qualifications, training and experience. I have the background to effectively serve as Sheriff and would appreciate your vote on June 7th.

Thank You

Ronald J. Tippett