Not enough crime fighting says White
By BRENDA BROWN knhedit@kilgorenewsherald.com

LONGVIEW — Saying "this race has been too quiet," the Democratic candidate for the top lawman post in Gregg County said the sheriff sets the tone of the law enforcement community as a whole and he would do things better than the incumbent.

With five weeks left until the Nov. 4 election, Bobby R. White held a press conference on the grounds of the Gregg County Courthouse Tuesday morning.

The Longview native said he would "put more men on the street" and complained Sheriff Maxey Cerliano puts too much emphasis on administration and not enough on crime fighting. He said Gregg County has the highest crime rate in East Texas area, including murders and burglaries, but had no specifics when asked later.

"It's been in the paper on and off," White said, and then added the statistics came from FBI reports, which could not be verified on the Internet. "The crime rate has steadily grown in the past eight years. I know that from being here."

As sheriff, White said he would house every prisoner from every municipality at no charge to the cities involved. By law, the county incarcerates those arrested for felonies and Class A and B misdemeanors, and there is no fee paid by the cities for these prisoners. However, the City of Longview closed its jail and contracts with the county to house all of its offenders, including those arrested for Class C misdemeanors, at a cost of approximately $320,000 per year based on one-time book-in fees and onetime per diem per inmate, no matter how long the inmate is incarcerated at the county jail.

White said the price of incarcerating out-of-county and federal offenders would be increased to make up the difference in jail fees. He said upping the price won't make the U.S. Marshal's Office go elsewhere "because all the jails are full." The federal agency contracts with the county for $43 per diem per day per inmate. Cost for out-of-county inmates is $40 per day.

The Gregg County Sheriff 's Office has a budget of more than $13 million per year and employs 250, the sheriff said yesterday.

"The county sheriff should make the county jail available to anyone who is arrested in Gregg County," White said in a telephone interview later. "If I, as a citizen, am arrested on a traffic violation and don't have the money to get out, that (municipal )jail is not for that. They don't have a jailer. They don't have the capacity. At the county jail, they have nurses there. There's a big responsibility for having a jail in a city. That's why Longview has shut their jail down. It's up to the sheriff.

"Why should that happen when it's the sheriff 's responsibility when he could house everyone, including those Class C misdemeanors. What happens if I'm arrested for a Class C and don't get the proper treatment that you should get? What I want to do is take the load and responsibility and put it where it should be and that's the county sheriff 's department," White said.

White cited Upshur County as an example, saying "everyone there uses the county jail."

He said Kilgore could shut down its jail and use the county jail at no charge if he was elected.

Sheriff Cerliano said White "appears to be uninformed and doesn't understand the system."

White said he would implement "a few procedures" to speed up the jail intake process; appoint a community relations officer, though White said he intends to do much of that himself; end alleged racial profiling of Latinos and other minorities; and discourage public endorsements by and for local politicians.

He added he would help citizens when it comes to foreclosures on their homes and businesses.

"It's not right for the sheriff to put you out," White said. "I will work to change the laws."

By law, the courts are in charge of foreclosures and if the sheriff of a county does not enforce the court order, the sheriff could be held in contempt.

Regarding his own arrest in 2007, White said it was "political" because he had run against Cerliano in 2000.

White owns a private security business and said the official charge of "tampering with a government record" was "a frivolous charge for which anybody else would not have been jailed." However, he pleaded guilty to the charge earlier this year.

"I did not put the correct date on an employee's application and Bill Jennings, who was DA at that time, he saw it, boosted it up to a felony and it was all political. A small group of people orchestrated that," White said, adding that Jennings publicly endorsed Cerliano, and vice versa, in prior elections.

Private security businesses are regulated by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

White made a plea bargain regarding that case on Jan. 17 and was sentenced to 180 days probation, 48 hours of community service and court costs.

He filed for the sheriff 's position that same month. He previously ran for the office against incumbent Bobby Weaver in 1996 and against Cerliano in 2000.

White says he has 27 years of law enforcement experience, primarily with the Henderson Police Department, from which he is retired. He said he began his career with the Kilgore Police Department and worked one year for the county sheriff 's office. His Web site, www.bobbywhiteforsheriff. com, states he has 24 years of law enforcement experience.

His resume' includes an associate degree in police science from Kilgore College and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas at Tyler. He said he is a graduate of the Kilgore Police Academy and the Texas A&M Field Training Officer School, and has a Master Certificate from the Texas Law Enforcement Commission.St