Sheriffs should be cops, some say

ROBBINSVILLE -- When voters in two Western North Carolina counties selected their sheriffs, they didn't vote for experience.

Both Russell Moody in Graham County and Curtis Cochran in Swain County beat out incumbents with years of law enforcement experience. Neither has ever worked in law enforcement.

Unlike some states, North Carolina doesn't have a law requiring county sheriffs to have training or expertise in law enforcement. That has raised concerns among some in the profession who think the state should set the bar higher.

"As it stands in North Carolina right now, a convicted felon can run for and be elected to sheriff," said John Midgette, director of the state Police Benevolent Association. "And we think that's, well, it's repugnant and flies in the face of everything that is honorable about law enforcement."

But others, including representatives from the state Sheriffs Association, want the existing system to stay in place.

Moody said the sheriff's office is more about leadership and accountability.

"You are elected by the people," he said. "The people put you in office for their values."

Cochran said he thinks people elected him instead of Sheriff Bob Ogle because they wanted a change in the administration's priorities.

Swain and Graham counties rank 89th and 98th in the state, respectively, in population, and both Cochran and Moody will oversee budgets of less than $800,000.

"I think any life experience you bring to the sheriff's job is a positive," Cherokee County Sheriff Keith Lovin said. Lovin, a former Highway Patrol trooper, has been mentoring Cochran.

But as sheriffs run increasingly complex law enforcement operations, some states -- including South Carolina and Georgia -- have started to require law enforcement certification.

"Our sheriff's departments have evolved into full-service law enforcement agencies," Midgette said.

The sheriff's departments in some counties specialize in areas such as undercover drug operations and organized crime. Without training and certification, some rookie patrol officers can have more experience than the sheriff, which is troubling, Midgette said.

Cochran said he has thought about attending law enforcement training. But Moody says he doesn't have plans to attend training and says he won't be doing street-level police work.

"If I was going to be out kicking down doors and writing tickets, most certainly I would need to be trained in basic law enforcement," Moody said.