St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman kicked off his 2022 reelection campaign Wednesday.
During his announcement speech, he touted the accomplishments of his first term including hiring a social worker to assist with mental health and addiction related calls, the creation of a new traffic unit and the launch of a new domestic violence response team that pairs an additional social worker with an officer on certain calls.
“It’s truly amazing how fast time has gone by these past three years, but we’ve accomplished a lot,” Redman said. “My commitment to you then was to be a more active and more visible sheriff, and I believe I have accomplished that goal.”
Redman also mentioned a purchase of hybrid police vehicles, implementation of use of force tracking and an expansion of K-9 units.
As for the county jail, Redman touted renovations, the expansion of virtual court hearings and a new $2.9 million contract outsourcing healthcare for inmates starting Dec. 1.
During Redman’s term, the department also launched GED classes for inmates, created a culinary job training program and received $5.7 million in federal grants.
If he’s reelected, Redman said he will focus on combating violent crime, further streamlining the budget, hiring more jail staff and officers and the creation of a mental health crisis response center.
“I don’t have any plans to slow down,” Redman said. “I want you to know that I am committed and will continue to work as hard as I have these first three years if you give me that opportunity.”
Redman is a Democrat and was first elected Sheriff in a landslide in 2018. He previously served as a county police officer for 24 years.
Official filing for the race begins on Jan. 5, 2022, and Redman said he plans to file that day.
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
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