Sheriff Meester runs for re-election in Lincoln County
This Q&A features Lincoln County Sheriff Chad Meester who is running for re-election ahead of the August 14 Primaries.
Current Occupation
Lincoln County Sheriff
Family
My parents still reside in rural Ivanhoe and I have 5 siblings.
Why are you running for Lincoln County Sheriff?
I am seeking re-election because of my connection and dedication to the citizens of Lincoln County. During my first term as your Sheriff, I worked tirelessly to move the Sheriff’s Office forward meeting the needs of citizens along with providing tools and resources needed for quality public service. I also do not believe the Office of Sheriff is a means to finish a career, rather a continuance of personal and professional achievements that are accomplished by hard work and rising to the challenges faced in this profession. I know I have proven myself in my first term to lead the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office as your working Sheriff.
What you believe are the most important concerns and other needs for the Sheriff’s department at this time?
There will always be concerns and needs at the Sheriff’s Office, but here are a few that could easily be achieved. One item not only effecting the Sheriff’s Office, but all public safety agencies is maintaining and recruiting adequate numbers of trained staff. It is a difficult time for law enforcement, hospitals, ambulance and first responders to recruit new people dedicated to the difficult schedule and training required for public safety.
Lincoln County is not the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago when each city could afford enough full and part-time officers to cover their cities entirely while the Sheriff’s Office only required 3 full-time deputies and a handful of part-time deputies. For the past six months I have been an advocate for hiring an additional full-time deputy in an attempt to provide additional personnel on the basis of officer safety and a continued increase of time consuming calls. There was a time in the distant past when sufficient numbers of law enforcement were available to respond to calls and handle a situation without the worry of officer safety.
The reality is, today’s Lincoln County officers have responded to incidents without an adequate number of back up officers. In the beginning of my proposal of hiring an additional deputy, the Sheriff’s Office Union Representative composed a letter to the Lincoln County Board on behalf of the deputies supporting the hiring of an additional deputy.
This lack of available officers is not a scheduling problem nor is it the Sheriff not covering shifts or patrolling, but simply not enough officers throughout the county. As your Sheriff many of my duties are managerial and supervisory in nature while the deputies carry out most of the law enforcement duties such as patrol, responding to calls and various investigations. I have and do cover open shifts, am called to assist at all hours of the night, respond to calls, conduct investigations, manage jail and dispatch operations assisted by the jail administrator and manage the deputies all while maintaining the same required training as deputies and the additional training as the Sheriff.
The second would be the ever growing demand on law enforcement and medical providers regarding persons in a mental health crisis. In a small county such as ours, persons and their families who deal with the many levels of mental illness are to me, an extended family that need our help. I have responded to many mental health situations and have known some of the persons and families my entire life. I have not let the opportunity to be an advocate for improving the mental health resources pass by.
A few years ago, Governor Dayton launched a Mental Health Coalition at the state level to assess the mental health crisis in Minnesota.
The coalition was composed of members in law enforcement, department of health and others to address mental health from various views. I wrote a letter to some of the founding members describing several examples of how our limited law enforcement and health care resources respond to a mental health crisis.
I described the many hours waiting in an Emergency Room for a facility to accept the person and then sometimes a mental health facility would not accept them. The medical staff would continue searching for an opening at other facilities while the person would wait in an emergency room for the needed mental health services.
I also described occasions when the person would spend the entire 72-hours in the emergency room only to be discharged without the needed mental health services. I also described the difficulties of obtaining mental health services for persons incarcerated at the Lincoln County Jail along with the resources and personnel needed.
In response to my letter the members of the Mental Health Coalition requested my insight and participation with this coalition. Before rendering my answer I contacted the Regional President and CEO Avera Marshall whom I had already established a very strong working relationship with to see if she would join me as a co-advocate from greater Minnesota. We had already begun working together as leaders to bring together our own local mental health coalition to better understand each other’s roles and responsibilities during a mental health crisis. We have come a long way to understand each other, our professions and the challenges we must face together.
Our achievements are best summarized when Winston Churchill said, “This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end, this is just perhaps the end of the beginning.”
The coalition is working toward addressing the complex roles of law enforcement, medical services, courts and human services in an attempt to improve the challenges of a mental health crisis. I am dedicated to continue working and being a voice from greater Minnesota. Third would be the increased focus on the investigations of drug related criminal activities with limited staff and resources. Society today has been numbed to the recreational use of drugs and now the increased use of harder drugs such as methamphetamines are becoming more common.
The goal for my next term as Lincoln County Sheriff would be to establish one or two deputies with investigative duties to address suspected drug activity. Currently each deputy investigates their own cases which makes it difficult for follow up and coordinating with other resources on rotating shifts. I have established solid relationships with many law enforcement agencies and their personnel in order to share information, resources and equipment. These relationships are priceless and will benefit the citizens of Lincoln County many times over.
I firmly believe the implementation of this investigative resource would increase the arrest and convictions of drug related criminal activity. Finally, the progress and improvements that have happened as your Sheriff are and always will be focused on providing the best service possible for each and every citizen of Lincoln County.
What you believe are the most important concerns of the Sheriff’s Department for the future as in the next 5-10 years?
One of the biggest concerns is the increase of mental health needs for inmates and in the general public. A call involving a mental health crisis takes time and involves many resources to provide the necessary care.
Deputies first respond and assess the crisis and then transport the person to the emergency room for an evaluation. During the physicians evaluation the deputy provides their firsthand reports of the incident and provides security to the medical staff. This assistance helps maintain control of the situation and prevent property damage or injury to everyone involved. It is not uncommon for a deputy to have stayed at an emergency room providing security up to and over 8 or 10 hours and sometimes around the clock.
Another concern is maintaining a balance between the budget and ever increasing costs associated with public safety. Public Safety equipment and training is expensive and the types along with the training requirements are established by other entities such as the state and federal government. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has a small operating budget and limited in our purchases.
One way I have maintained balance and saved tens of thousands of dollars is by partnering with Nobles County and sharing a computer server and our Zuercher records system. Another concern is the various pieces of equipment that will need to be replaced or upgraded sometime in the near future. Some of this equipment has become so expensive that it is becoming unaffordable for a small agency. This equipment is likely to cost well over hundreds of thousands of dollars and typically housed in each Sheriff’s Office across the state.
I would again seriously look at the partnering with neighboring agencies to share the equipment at a significant savings of money. This partnership is not new and many agencies use this as a means to survive and continue serving the public.
What is your law enforcement background including education, schooling and law enforcement experience?
Law enforcement is a second career for me. I was working in the manufacturing business as a roof and floor truss designer in Minneota, MN. In about 2006 the housing market started to decline and I decided to go back to school rather than waiting for it to improve or be laid off.
I attended and graduated Alexandria Technical College for law enforcement academics and skills training. I started working part-time at Lake Benton and at the Sheriff’s Office before becoming a full-time deputy in 2011. I was appointed Sheriff in 2014 and won the primary and general election taking the oath of office in 2015.
Since becoming Sheriff I have taken numerous online trainings that are also available to deputies. I have attended many educational conferences for Sheriff’s and command staff regarding criminal trends, legislative updates and management.
I have over 11 years of law enforcement experience that has included all types of criminal investigations such as arson, assaults and many others. I also on occasion assist with the booking, transporting of inmates and court security.
I continue to be active with investigations and assisting deputies when needed. Though the managerial and supervisor duties take up the majority of my time I continue to keep my former deputy duties up to date. One of the most challenging experiences is the two week February 2015 search and recovery of two persons from Lake Benton. This experience proved my networking abilities to secure the many resources to help bring closure to the families.
Why you have a vested interest in Lincoln County and the safety of its citizens?
I am from Lincoln County and have known many of the citizens my entire life. I am able to talk to them about issues that impact them such as the livestock and crop market. I really consider myself a lifelong resident even though I worked out of state during the early years of my drafting career. I try to attend city celebration (even in non-election years) as well as attending other fundraising events that support the efforts of the communities and groups of Lincoln County. I am truly the most vested candidate because I am “from the county and for the county” and will continue working tirelessly for the citizens of Lincoln County.