Sheriff William R. Barker interview by Crooksville News
From the beginning of the interview i.e. the first question up until we shook hands at the end, there has been no edit removing any content. Before the interview, and after the interview will not be shown due to the personal nature of the conversation and stories that we had shared.
Talking with the Sheriff was so easy that, at times I had to remember that I was conducting an interview please enjoy and vote 2024.
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Recorded on 11/20/23
Below are the questions and notes I had for this interview.
00:00
1. Your name and what you’re running for.
00:16
2. What are your motivations for continuing
the office as Sheriff ?
00:38
3. What are some misunderstandings that
the public may have incorrect about the sheriffs department ?
09:07
4. One of the issues in Perry County are Violent Crimes, what are you able to do about this matter?
Some people think these aren’t getting enough
attention.
13:51
5. Another issue is, property crimes, they
are especially difficult to deal with, for the victims,
as difficult as it may be, what can you do as Sheriff
on property crimes to help alleviate the stress for
victims and the public ?
stolen property, vandalism etc
20:11
6. Illegal drugs have been a growing issue
for decades and it doesn’t seem to be getting better.
Is policing illegal drugs ineffective and what effect
does policing drugs have ?
Have you attemped to or given thought to not
policing drugs, why or why not ?
22:27
7. Crimes targeting children and adults
online is a growing problem, what are you able to
do, that is practical ? (Specifically with online photo
and video sexually explicit material)
or is a problem with juristiction ?
if so, what can you do ?
27:36
8. Can you do something more about better
coverage especially during late night, I’ve had
several issues where only one deputy was on duty
and I’m not the only person that has complained or is this a matter of isolated incidents with myself
and a few others
34:45
9. In recent times have you made changes
to your department in regards to reducing or
eliminating the drug task force?
If so why ?
10. skip
38:28
11. Bob Schons claimed or eluded to many
sexual assault reports not being investigated or not
being investigated enough. What is the state of these
investigations, or is this claim accurate ?
40:02
12. Bob Schons said,
"the inordinate amount of sexual child abuse cases
in this county is alarming"
I'm not blaming or taking sides, i understand this
is a subjective view of one person.
What can you tell the public that may have heard
this said ?
42:25
13. Bob Schons also claimed that there are
over fifty open sexual abuse cases regarding adults
and children from 2019 to sometime recently.
What are the challenges the Sheriffs department is
facing to resolve this issue ?
43:17
14. From 2014 to July 2023 Bob says that
there are 477 substantiated child abuse cases in this
county.
Is there something that the public can do to help in
this matter ? If not, what is the Sheriffs
departments difficulties in getting justice ?
44:41
15. Talk about funding issues and how this
has affected housing felons and others in regards to
jail availability and space ? I know you have had
challenges in temporarily keeping some people in
the local jail, either for temporary or for holding
those for court, can you explain this ? or is this no longer an issue ?
56:48
16. Questions for the public ?
