With less than week to Wisconsin’s primary election, candidates are making their last pushes for your vote.
In Lincoln County, there are two candidates running for the Republican nomination for sheriff.
Sheriff Ken Schneider is being challenged by Grant Peterson, current Lieutenant in charge of the 911 dispatch center.
Peterson has nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience in Lincoln County. He says over all those years he’s been preparing and advancing his trainings so that he would be qualified to be sheriff.
Peterson believes now is that time.
“I’ve gotten to a point where I’ve noticed that things have been slipping in the moral department and I have some ideas to improve upon those and also to improve upon the services we provide to the citizens of Lincoln County,” said Peterson.
Peterson laid out several community-minded priorities he wants to accomplish should he be elected.
Top of that list is supporting victims of crimes.
“It seems like in this day and age, the crime victims are the ones that are forgotten about. I would like to provide them with a better service so that they know that they are important. They’re not going through this alone and we’re able to help them get back to a road to recovery,” said Peterson.
On top of that, Peterson wants a better follow program for victims.
His other top priorities are increased traffic safety and boosting the public’s confidence in the sheriff’s office.
“When somebody calls the sheriff’s office for help, when you finally make that decision to ask for help, it’s often a scary, traumatic, stressful part of the person’s life. Most of us go through life never thinking we’re going to need the police for help. I want those people to know that when they call for help. They’re going to get somebody that’s well trained, well experienced, and compassionate to their needs,” said Peterson.
Peterson also believes more can be done to integrate the sheriff’s office into the community.
The primary election is August 9th.
WXPR was in contact with Sheriff Schneider last week to request an interview about his re-election campaign. As of now, he has yet to schedule an interview with us.
