Tim Caldwell wants a salary boost for the Baltimore County sheriff?s deputies, newer patrol cars and updated equipment.
He?d sharpen up the logo, too.
“It?s the overall appearance and the respect factor,” said Caldwell, 49, who is running against Sheriff R. Jay Fisher for the top post. A home builder and former design major, Caldwell said new gear would help the deputies “garner a little more respect.”
It comes as a surprise to Fisher that they aren?t appreciated already.
“It?s easy to criticize anyone?s department when you have no law enforcement experience,” said Fisher, a former Baltimore police officer.
Caldwell has volunteered with courts and prosecutors, according to his Web site.
He says interviews with a half-dozen sheriff?s employees and others at the courthouse (where the Sheriff?s Office is based) have led him to the conclusion that morale is low.
Lt. Richard Kelly called Caldwell?s concerns “pretty vague” and disputed the notion that the cars are unsafe.
“You’re always going to find people that aren’t happy,” Kelly said. Deputies generally respect Fisher, he said, though the sheriff “could have done more” to secure for them a fully paid 40-hour work week.
Caldwell has faced several work-related criminal charges, including multiple counts of acting as a contractor without a license and failing to perform a contract, which were dropped or shelved. He said he was mired in problems customers had with other companies on projects he worked on.
Fisher says he?d rather trumpet his accomplishments of the past four years than counter Caldwell?s attacks. Updated metal detectors, an enhanced courthouse security camera system and a broader program for helping collect unpaid child support, Fisher said, have “brought this [office] up and into the 21st century.”
