The following is Watershed Voice’s candidate questionnaire for August’s St. Joseph County sheriff primary election. We will run all completed questionnaires in the order they’re received prior to Election Day.
Chad Spence filled out our questionnaire. These are his answers.
Editor’s note: The formatting and content of this questionnaire are presented as they were submitted. Chad Spence is one of five challengers including Dennis Allen, Jason Bingaman, Joe Bingaman, and Gordon Evilsizor.
Name: Chad Spence
Age: 50
Address: 18140 M-86, Three Rivers, MI 49093
Party affiliation: Republican
Are you an incumbent? No
Family: Married to my wife, Kelly, for the past 28 years. 3 Children, Chad Jr, 23, a Project Manager for a commercial construction company, Sabrina, 20, a Junior in College enrolled in the Pharmacy Program, and Emmett, 16, a Junior in high school.
Background/Bio:
A lifetime resident of St. Joseph County and a Mendon graduate. I attended Ferris State University where I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. I was immediately hired by the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office where I retired. I was then hired as the St. Joseph County Jail teacher preparing inmates for success with their GED testing. I teach Public Safety to high school students at the St. Joseph County Career and Technical Education (CTE) Consortium at Centreville Jr/Sr High School.
My hobbies include hunting, fishing, golfing, CrossFit, and most importantly, (Editor’s note, Spence’s questionnaire included underlining until this paragraph’s conclusion) spending time with my family. As a family, we continue to have dinner together at the table and have meaningful conversations. I believe in the strong family values of faith, love, compassion, and respect.
I have always been driven to serve others whether it was as a deputy with the sheriff’s office or just as a fellow citizen. I volunteered to work with our youth coaching football, baseball, softball, and basketball.
Experience:
Jan. 1997- Jan. 2022 St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office
o Patrol Deputy
o Narcotics Investigator
o Patrol Sergeant
o Detective Sergeant
o SRT/SWAT Commander
o Blood Spatter Reconstruction Expert
o Investigator for Michigan Sheriff’s Association M.I.S.S.I.O.N. Team, conducting internal investigations for agencies around the state of Michigan.
o St. Joseph County Major Crimes Scene Task Force
- Co-Coordinator
- Investigator
- Crime Scene Investigator
Feb. 2022-Aug. 2022 St. Joseph County Jail Teacher
o Prepared inmates for success in achieving their GEDs
Aug. 2022-Present St. Joseph County CTE Instructor
o Preparing high school students for careers in Police, Fire, EMS, and 9-1-1 Dispatching
1992-Present Mendon Police Department
o Certified Part-Time officer
Three Rivers Police Department
o Reserve Officer
Why did you choose to run for the St. Joseph County Sheriff?
After serving our citizens for 25 years at the sheriff’s office, I see a need for positive change, a new culture, and a new identity.
I believe we haven’t progressed to exceed or oftentimes meet standards. We have so many good men and women working at the sheriff’s office looking for guidance and leadership. I am not one to meet standards, we set them, and when they are met, we raise those standards.
I continue to get calls from those working at the sheriff’s office, whether looking for support or guidance at a critical incident. All I think of when I get these calls are the victims. This is about serving our citizens. I believe some of this has been lost and we must restore that commitment to our citizens.
Have you previously held public office, or have you served in a public leadership role? If so, what is your experience, and what are some of your accomplishments?
Yes. Currently, I am the Public Safety Instructor teaching junior and senior high school student’s police, fire, EMS, and 911 dispatching for our Career and Technical Program. I was asked to create the program and we just completed our 2 nd year.
In the first year of the program’s existence, we were selected to represent every public safety program in the state of Michigan at the Capital in Lansing during an event called the CTE Showcase.
Our enrollment has increased every year from 22, to 33, to almost maxed out at 50 for the upcoming school year.
How long have you lived in the area you are seeking to represent?
A lifetime resident of St. Joseph County.
In your opinion, what are the three most important issues in the area relative to the scope of your position, and why?
- Jail Management: The sheriff’s primary responsibility is maintaining the jail. Jail programs can be vital in helping inmates to be productive citizens in society.
- Crime Prevention: To ensure the of the community. This involves proactive crime prevention and criminal investigation.
- Relationship Building: Building trust and maintaining positive relationships with the employees, agencies, and most importantly our citizens is essential for effective law enforcement.
What measures will you pursue to address those issues?
- We will enhance our jail education program by implementing I.G.N.I.T.E., Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education, to reverse the cycle of generational incarceration through education.
- We will re-establish 2 deputies into a drug unit that was disbanded by the current administration. We will also have directed patrols and direct our 2 traffic grant cars to enforce traffic laws rather than handling criminal complaints.
- We will build relationships with our staff by encouraging employee input and buy in. We will reconnect with our local agencies as the sheriff’s office has disconnected from the law enforcement community. We will be transparent with our citizens and engage in conversations to ensure the people we serve are safe and have a say in their community’s safety.
What would you say is your leadership style, and how will you utilize its strengths in your position?
Relational Leadership.
Building and maintaining a strong, positive relationship with the staff, encouraging collaborative decision making, create a culture of trust among staff, promote open communication, and provide support for staff’s personal and professional growth.
How would you work to reform the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department? If you would not reform it, please explain why.
Through strong leadership and implementing our 3 objectives of Employee Mental Health, Training, and re-establishing relationships.
How would you work to regain the public’s trust in the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department?
By showing up to work every day and ensuring our agency is providing the service the citizens expect and deserve.
Do you consider yourself a candidate with high personal integrity? If so, why?
I do. My parents instilled in me from a young age the difference between right and wrong. I was always that kid who was asked what happened because I would tell the truth.
This also became part of my professional career when Dennis Allen. As undersheriff at the time, he sent me to training to be part of an elite team for the Sheriff’s Association that conducted internal investigations on other agencies and officers around the State of Michigan.
How would your administration as sheriff differ from previous administrations?
This is an administration that was selected because of its integrity, transparency, and qualifications. Our future administrative leaders will be selected based on merit and their ability to lead our agency and the community they serve with their actions and skill sets. The citizens have made it clear they want change and change they will get.
Does this mean we are terminating people? No. We are restructuring and anyone employed who hasn’t done anything illegal, immoral, or unethical will be part of our team.
It’s time to change that administrative DNA that has been in place for the past 60 years.
How will you know that you’re accurately representing your community?
When the community and I continue to build relationships and have conversations at our local, village, city, and township meetings along with being re-elected at the end of 4 years.
Is there anything else your prospective constituents should know about you, your platform, your views, or your background?
Why Chad Spence?
32 Years of Law Enforcement Experience
I have the most law enforcement experience before going into an administrative role at the sheriff’s office. 2 candidates combined had 22 years of law enforcement experience, 7 and 15 years going into their administrative roles as an undersheriff and captain. Each candidate had 0 years of administrative experience before going into those administrative roles.
Relationship building
The values instilled in me by my parents have enabled me to build relationships, whether it was multi-jurisdictional teams I led, inmates I helped set up for success in achieving their GEDs, or the students I currently teach in our CTE Public Safety Program.
Departmental Issues:
A lack of cooperation with an issue in the last 17 months with sewage from the jail improperly being sent to the Village of Centreville lagoons and going into the river system.
The Village of Centreville has contracted two deputies to provide police services for over the past 30 years and now possibly dissolving the contract due to those positions working outside the village a majority of the time, while the Village of Centreville taxpayers continue to pay for those services.
The sheriff’s office has 2 positions specifically budgeted for drug enforcement, yet a statement has been made by administrators that they are fully staffed. Why then do we not have two deputies in a drug unit if they say the department is fully staffed? Where is the budgeted money going for the two deputies going?
The sheriff’s office administration dismissed an internal investigation involving a student and deputy, which then prompted the Michigan Attorney General to conduct an investigation.
With all these issues, we have a candidate who is a commissioner and was the law enforcement chair for the county and the other being the undersheriff, yet these issues still exist.
Endorsements:
- St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office Road Patrol Command Officer’s Association of Michigan.
- St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Sergeants Fraternal Order of Police
- Constantine Police Department Fraternal Order of Police
- White Pigeon Police Department Fraternal Order of Police
- United Auto Workers Union
- St. Joseph County Farm Bureau Association
- Centreville Education Association
