With only two weeks left before the filing deadline, two former Harford County law enforcement officers have announced that they intend to run for the county?s top law enforcement seat.
Forest Hill residents Joe Price, 51, and Ray Clasing, 46, have said they intend to seek the Republican nomination for Harford County Sheriff. Their decision to run creates a crowded field of now five Republicans, compared to two Democrats, seeking to become sheriff.
Price, a detective sergeant with the Maryland State Police North East Barrack, feels morale is a major concern at the Sheriff?s Office. Clasing, a retired Maryland State Police captain, thinks the agency needs a qualified leader with a fresh perspective.
Given the retirement of former Harford County Sheriff Joseph Meadows in 2003 amidst scandal, and allegations that present Sheriff R. Thomas Golding?s command staff was soliciting campaign support from deputies, Price said it seems the leadership of the Harford County Sheriff?s Office “do not hold themselves to the same standard they require of their deputies.”
“Everyone in the Sheriff?s Office has to be accountable. Accountability starts at the top, not at the bottom. The sheriff must lead by example. Morale will follow,” Price said.
“When morale is high, law enforcement is more efficient. When the leadership loses focus, the mission is swayed,” Clasing said.
“I think it is crucial that the sheriff should be out there with the deputies,” Price said.
“If you have a homicide, and the sheriff is on the scene, that tells the deputies, ?Hey, he cares, he is one of us,? ” Clasing said.
Concerns over gangs and Aberdeen Proving Ground?s base re-alignment, which is expected to bring thousands of new residents to the county, are top priorities for Price and Clasing, but each had different solutions.
Price said the answer to these challenges rests in developing strong relationships with other agencies, while providing deputies with the training and resources they need to do their jobs.
Clasing said if the Harford County Sheriff?s Office focuses on combating crime in general, and in particular the drug trade, by maintaining an “omnipresence” on the streets, the rest of the agency?s mission become easier to accomplish.
The Field
Democrats
Jesse Bane, Fallston
Terry Serago, Belcamp
Republicans
Bob Benedetto, Bel Air
Norman Cochran, Fallston
David E. Tritt, Jr., Forest Hill
