ADA COUNTY, Idaho — Sheriff Matthew Clifford seeks re-election with plans for new tech and mental health initiatives; challengerDoug Traubelpushes for program restorations and says his constitutional lenses and policing experience will help the residents defend the quality of life and their rights.
- Ada County voters will decide between incumbent Sheriff Matthew Clifford and challenger Doug Traubel.
- Clifford aims to address mental health, implement new technology, and create an in-house DNA crime lab.
- Traubel proposes restoring county programs, like the gang unit, and enhancing the reserve deputy program.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
It's a repeat in the race for Ada County sheriff — incumbent Matthew Clifford and challenger Doug Traubel are on the ballot again.
Sheriff Cliffordhas been with the Ada County Sheriff's office for 24 years, sheriff for the last three, and is seeking re-election.
Clifford says, "I started here in my early 20's and worked my way through the ranks of all these different bureaus throughout the agencies, there's no way I want to do it about-face and walk away from something that I helped build since my young age."
Traubel's 32 years in law enforcement started in California, but he's been in Idaho since 1994, where he's worked for several agencies including Ada County.
He's been outspoken about his beliefs, so I asked him to explain some of the ideas outlined in his books.
He tells me he feels sheriff's offices are injected with Marxist philosophies, forcing deputies to "choke down implicit bias training," saying that the reality of the training insists officers already have subconscious bias — as a result, slowing their reaction time.
Traubel is running for sheriff for a third time, saying he doesn't like the direction the county is going.
"I have that lens, that constitutional lens and I have the real policing experience. It's a blend; it's a balance between defending your rights, fighting crime, and not becoming a police state, and so, I say people have come here from broken crime-ridden areas, and they want a sheriff that's going to defend the quality of life and their rights; that's what I offer," says Traubel.
Clifford sayshe'd prioritize addressing mental health within the sheriff's office, implementing new technology for the county jail and dispatch center, as well as creating the county's own DNA crime lab.
"Nothing on the state but they do it for all of Idaho so it's a big burden on them but we do that in-house and by the end of next year, I'm going to have DNA technology in our crime lab. That is a huge project of mine that I'm most excited about is getting us our own DNA crime lab here in Ada County and we can solve crimes and find suspects faster than ever," says Clifford.
To fight crime, Traubelwants to create new programs and restore the county's gang unit, warrants team, and reserve deputy program.
Traubel says, "It's healthy because it gives us more personnel, but it also bridges the gap between citizen and the sheriff. You know, think about the contract cities of Kuna, Eagle and Star, if I were to have just a handful of reserve deputies in those contract cities and I put a reserve deputy in the car with a full-time deputy, I've doubled the capability of that car without doubling the burden on the taxpayer."
