Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

NAME: Tom Rummel

EDUCATION: Graduated from Plains High School 1981, Graduated from the Montana Law Enforcement Academy 2006, and 1045 hours of law enforcement training

FAMILY: Married to Shelly for 23 years with two children

OCCUPATION: Sanders County Sheriff

1. What do you think about the proposal to have teachers carry guns in schools?

Yes I'm in favor of this. Why? Because Sanders County and five of the schools cannot afford School Resource Officers (Thompson Falls has an SRO). When seconds count the cops are minutes away. In an active shooter situation every second counts and where best to stop this, but where it has started. Teachers would have to be volunteers and be willing to undergo some very serious training, such as, firearms qualifications & proficiency, weapons retention, shoot no shoot situations and room clearing just to name a few. They would have to stay proficient in their training. This would mean firearms qualification at least quarterly as the Sheriff's Office does. Do I see this happening anytime soon? No. Why? School boards and insurance companies have to be on board and they are not at that point. With that said, I would support funding that would put SRO's in Sanders County Schools.

2. What is the biggest threat to public safety in Sanders County?

I would say drugs and alcohol. Drugs, because the illegal sale and use of meth, opiates, marijuana, and prescription pills is what fuels the burglaries, thefts, domestic violence, child abuse, mental health issues, and DUI's within this county. Alcohol runs hand and foot with this. Although it's legal, it is still a drug and responsible for many of the same issues.

3. What would you do to address the growing drug problem in Sanders County?

I will continue to do what we've been doing and that is continuing to gather information on those involved, targeting them and then putting together a good solid case that will stand up in court. This is very frustrating not only for law enforcement but for the citizens as well. A good solid case takes time to put together. It has to be based upon solid facts and evidence, not suspicion and hearsay. You have to be able to prove your probable cause. I will also continue to use outside agencies such as the Northwest Drug Taskforce, Montana Highway Patrol's Criminal Interdiction Team, the DEA and Border Patrol. We will also continue with our own interdiction patrols where we utilize our K-9. I will continue to support educating children on the danger of drug usage and drug awareness seminars. Our Community Watch Program has taken hold in the west end of this county and I want to see it in every community in Sanders County. The citizens are our eyes and ears and they provide us with some of the best intelligence we get.

4. If you are elected and look ahead to the end of your term, what one significant change would you initiate?

At the end of four years a significant change would be an overall reduction in crime and drugs in this county. And I will use every resource I can to make that happen.

NAME: Darlene Lee

EDUCATION: Associates (AA) degree in Criminal Justice; Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Public Safety Officer Standards and Training (POST) certifications; POST certified police vehicle driving instructor

FAMILY: I have two sons and four grandsons who are my pride and joy. My grandsons range from 7 months to 3 1/2 years old. I have a furbaby who is an Akita named Tashi. 

OCCUPATION: Retired

1. What do you think about the proposal to have teachers carry guns in schools?

I agree with it, but we should also look to have armed SRO's in the school's first. We are entrusting these teachers with teaching our children and shaping their minds. We also expect them to protect our children in an emergency situation, like getting them out of the building in case of a fire, so why would we not want them to be armed in case of an active shooter situation? If a teacher wants to take that extra step to protect their students and themselves, because it's a choice not part of the job description, I think we should give them that opportunity with strict training and certification. What's the alternative? Do nothing and hope nothing happens? Metal detectors? That would require people to man not only the entry with the detectors but all other entries locked and manned and that's not feasible here. How about this? We work harder to identifying troubled youth and get that child the help they need before we get to that point!

2. What is the biggest threat to public safety in Sanders County?

Number one would absolutely be drugs. Drugs and the crimes it begets. You have thefts by addicts trying to support their habit. You have higher domestic violence and other assaults, or murders. You have child abuse and child neglect. You have vehicle crashes. It's rarely that just the one person who chooses to do drugs is affected. The ripples from that one person's choice can negatively affect so many innocent lives. 

3. What would you do to address the growing drug problem in Sanders County?

First off I would get everyone to start working together. There is a lack of unity not only within the Sheriff's office but also with other agencies within the county. A few years ago when I was a trooper I kept getting drug intel while investigating crashes. You know there are going to be drugs in the community, but I was appalled at what I was hearing like how women were being introduced/hooked on meth. I started asking other officers what they knew, and it seemed like everyone had a couple pieces of the puzzle, but no one was working on putting it all together. I then asked the Sheriff's office if we could have an intel meeting because the "bad guys" were working better together than we were. Initially some people didn't think certain people were connected but once we started working together we began realizing they were connected, and we need to get back to working together. We also need to bring in any outside services we can get. We need to also work with bordering counties and states. And, we need people to report things they see or know. I've heard so many times while talking with people in the community, "Why bother nothing ever gets done about it." Well, that needs to change. 

Darlene Lee

4. If you are elected and look ahead to the end of your term, what one significant change would you initiate? 

I actually found this to be the most difficult of the questions to answer as it made me feel like it was asking what would I do to leave my mark or be remembered by. This isn't about me. So I guess I would have to say that I would hope that the biggest change I could help initiate would be UNITY and ACCOUNTABILITY. Unity not only within the department but with other county departments like the County Attorney's office, the county commissioners, and the treasurer on the budget. Unity with other agencies.  And accountability that jobs are being done and the public is being served the way it should be.