Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Keith Leopard spent eight years in the Linn County Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy and detective and he believes he can apply his experience on the street to leading the department if he’s elected sheriff.
Leopard, 35, who lives with his wife Jodi in Lebanon, left the department in 2004 “for personal reasons” and runs a trucking business.
He was on the road last week, but provided The New Era with information about his platform and his background via e-mail.
Leopard was born and raised in Springfield and earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Lane Community College. After graduating from LCC, Leopard worked for the Fulton, Ky., Police Department for two years before joining the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.
He says he investigated a wide variety of crimes, including homicide, child abuse, animal neglect, property crimes and ID theft while working as a detective in the department.
He earned Advanced Police Officer Certification from the state of Oregon while with the Sheriff’s Office.
Leopard said he believes Linn County residents are most concerned about property theft and identity theft, which, he said, are “directly linked to the meth epidemic in this county.”
He said, if elected, he would increase the number of undercover drug operations run by the department, beef up training for Sheriff’s personnel and “build meaningful partnerships with other local, state and federal agencies which could assist in reducing drug crimes in Linn County.
“I would also attempt to work with local prosecutors in becoming aggressive in asset forfeiture regarding drug crimes,” he said. “I would continue efforts to have the residents of Linn County become active participants in the fight against crime by becoming involved in programs such as Neighborhood Watch and ‘meth watch’ type programs.”
Another area he said he wants to focus on is the jail. He said it is too nice.
“As a patrol deputy I frequently would take people into custody for warrants which may have originated from outside Linn County,” Leopard said. “Very frequently I would be asked which jail facility I would be taking them to.
“When asked why it mattered to them, the prisoner always told me that they preferred to go to the Linn County Jail because the ‘staff’ was so nice and the food was much better than anywhere else.
“One of my main goals as Sheriff would be to transform the Linn County Jail into an institution that was not viewed as a “bed and breakfast” by inmates, while still meeting the federal and state laws regulating jail operations.”
He said money saved by changing jail operations could go toward fighting crime, specifically putting more detectives on the street with more specialized skills and equipment.
Leopard also said he believes administration in the Sheriff’s Office is too costly.
“Many of the administrative functions could be handled by fewer administrators or re-directed to middle management,” he said. “This move would free up money in the budget for more deputies to patrol the county or to provide better equipment/training to line personnel.”
Leopard likened his style of management to that of a head football coach.
“I am going to select the best and the brightest players, provide them with my playbook, guide them with my experience and knowledge, and expect them to give 100 percent to the team en route to victory,” he said.