Candidates for Catawba County Sheriff participate in meet-and-greet
By James Kmosko
Candidates for Catawba County Sheriff attended a meet-and-greet held at Pin Station in Newton on January 5th.
The meeting, originally billed as a “Town Hall” style debate, was attended by three Republican candidates: incumbent Sheriff Don Brown, Brookford Police Chief Will Armstrong, and former Newton Police Officer William Propst. No Democratic candidates registered with the Catawba County Board of Elections to run for sheriff in this election.
Republican Candidate James Slape originally stated that he would attend the event but withdrew when the format was changed.
“I was very much looking forward to the debate and the opportunity for all four candidates to discuss our platforms and our intentions to serve Catawba County,” Slape posted in a statement on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the situation has become confusing and disorganized, with unclear communication.”
The event was organized by the Catawba County Tea Party. According to a post on the organization’s Facebook page, “[the event] had 90 people sign in attendance.”
The primary election for sheriff will take place on March 3rd. The general election will occur on November 3rd, concurrently with the national midterm elections. For more information on the elections, visit www.catawbacountync.gov/elections.
The Chronicle Chronicle interviewed each of the attending candidates for sheriff at the event. Excerpts from the candidates’ responses are published in alphabetical order.
Chief Will Armstrong
Will Armstrong, Chief of Police in the Catawba County town of Brookford, listed several policies that he claims he would implement if he were elected.
“I’m running for sheriff because I think it’s time for this county to have a little change,” Armstrong said. “We’ve had a lot of traditional style leadership and it’s time for a modern approach.”
Armstrong said that law enforcement in rural areas of Catawba County has been unnecessarily lax.
“One of my biggest missions is, I think we should put satellite offices across the county,” Armstrong said. “[We should] have substations that are opened up 24 hours [a day], and you’ll get to know who these officers are who work in your area, and those officers will get to know their community.”
If elected, Armstrong intends to create a unit to combat traffic violations.
“It can take an hour for a state trooper to respond to a simple traffic accident,” Armstrong said. “It’s something that a deputy sheriff can do, but a lot of times a deputy sheriff or a sheriff worry about writing a lot of tickets and citations, because they’re in an elected position and they’re worried they’ll lose people’s votes. But I think that if you’re doing what’s right, you should always put safety before politics.”
Armstrong also said that he will attempt to reduce corruption within the department.
“There’s a large nepotism situation that’s going on in the sheriff’s office,” Armstrong said. “A lot of the administration, these are people who are related. They’re cousins and brothers, everyone’s related. There should be a nepotism policy.”
Other policies include mandatory one-night-per-week shifts for supervisors and administrators, better management of funds within the department, and a decrease in the sheriff’s salary, which currently is listed in the Catawba County Salary Plan as between $127,037.83 and $207,962.42.
When asked directly if he would advocate to decrease his own salary upon becoming sheriff, Armstrong said, “Yeah, absolutely.”
“I’ve been able to show what that leadership from the front style is like, and I want to be able to continue to do that, “Armstrong said. “I’ve been raised here my entire life, and I want to see Catawba County thrive.”
Sheriff Don Brown
Sheriff Brown, former Newton Chief of Police and two-time incumbent Catawba County Sheriff, focused on his record and his accomplishments in office.
“I love what I do,” said Sheriff Brown. “I’ve been doing this for 37 years, I think I still have gas in the tank. I love serving the community, I still have some goals to reach for the Sheriff’s office.”
According to Brown, before he was elected sheriff, some Catawba County schools did not have school resource officers.
“I was elected back in 2018, and since then we have come a long way,” Brown said. “We have put school resource officers in all of the Catawba County schools … Those are our vulnerable populations, our children and our elderly. Those are the ones we really have to take care of.”
Brown said that he has been working to bring additional deputies to areas such as Sherrills Ford and Terrell.
“I won’t say [southeastern Catawba County is] neglected, but I will say I want more deputies down there because of the growth,” Brown said. “We did get four deputies this past budget year, so hopefully you’re seeing more deputies [in that area]. We want to make sure that we cover the entire county.”
According to Brown, bodycams were deployed with all deputies and dashcams were placed in department vehicles during his term as sheriff.
“I think that’s very good for transparency and for public trust,” Brown said. “They’re very expensive, but I have a close relationship with the county manager and county commissioners, and they support what we do.”
Brown said that he intends to maintain strong partnerships with the county commissioners and other law enforcement departments within Catawba County.
“We just keep building these partnerships,” Brown said. We’re 260 strong. Newton PD is 56 strong. Hickory PD is 160 strong. You take all these agencies and if you all work together, we’re just a huge mass of law enforcement that can take care of our communities. That’s really what it’s all about. It’s not about status for me. It never has been. I could’ve retired in 2016, but I chose not to, because we still have a lot to do.”
William Propst
William Propst, a former Newton Police officer with thirty years of law enforcement experience, focused on the crime rate and drug abuses in Catawba County
“The reason I’m running is because the crime rate and the deaths from drug overdoses is out the roof,” said Propst. “We have the eighth highest [rates] in the state, and I’m here to fix that and be more transparent and more accountable than the current sheriff is.”
Propst said that the department does not currently address issues relating to drug crime.
“All of the people who I’ve talked to over the last two years, thousands of people, they’re not getting any help from the Sheriff’s Department,” Propst said. They get, ‘We know about that, we know about this person.’ Well, come out here and do something. They’re stealing from us, they’re robbing us, and we’re having all kinds of traffic in our neighborhoods. We’re here to fix that.”
Propst also advocated for reform in the investigation of property crimes.
“The crime rate in this county is astronomical,” Propst said. “The rate of getting a solvable case as far as property crimes is like 14% to 20%. Before the current sheriff took over, it was like 40% to 50%.”
According to Propst, many deputies do not appropriately file property crime reports.
“If you have a property crime, and I come take your report for you, and then you don’t hear a word back from me, how are you going to feel?” Propst said. “Or you find out they already closed the case because you didn’t sign it, and they never called you? How are you going to feel about that? It’s all about making the people feel good and safe in their own communities.”
Propst said that he intends to separate politics from Catawba County law enforcement.
“The amount of politics in law enforcement is crazy,” Propst said. “I’m fighting that. The [organizations with] big money, if they can throw money at a candidate, they can buy him off.”
