Merrimack County Sheriff David Croft and opponent Keith Mitchell have two things in common – their shared goals and values for the department and their lengthy careers in law enforcement.
But when it comes to meeting those goals and implementing those values, Mitchell believes he’s better suited for the position than Croft.
The two are running against each other for the elected position of county sheriff in Tuesday’s election. Croft, the incumbent Democrat, has been on the job for two years after his predecessor Scott Hilliard resigned in 2020 after facing DWI charges.
The pair ran against each other in the 2020 Democratic Primary where Mitchell lost to Croft by 220 votes, a margin of about 1%. Mitchell is now running as a Republican to challenge Croft head-to-head.
“There is a need for leadership in that position and I’ve spoken to many of my friends who are past employees that have left in the last year and a half and I’ve had discussions with current employees and they have encouraged me to do this,” Mitchell said.
Since Croft was elected nearly two years ago, the department has lost some of its staff, including Mitchell, who was a deputy alongside Croft before the 2020 election.
“They are short-staffed right now and lacking in those areas,” Mitchell said. “One of my main priorities is going to have to be hiring and retaining good employees.”
Croft said he is proud of his department and its retention.
“People are struggling right now trying to get employees, it’s not unique to law enforcement,” Croft said. “I am blessed to be down one deputy and very happy to be able to help our communities.”
As sheriff, Croft said he has expanded training for staff, increased education in schools and libraries on the dangers of online predators, created an internet crime task force to monitor and investigate child exploitation, and worked with people facing eviction to connect them to local, state and county resources. Despite these initiatives, the department has continued to serve smaller communities and law enforcement agencies in the county.
If re-elected, Croft said he wants to expand his efforts and create a crisis intervention team to assist community members at the scene of stressful situations and add more staff to the communication department and online investigative team, he said.
Mitchell remains steadfast that change is needed at the sheriff’s office.
If elected, Mitchell plans to continue Croft’s efforts within the department and wants to expand the computer crimes unit to include forensics, create a domestic violence unit as part of a county-wide program and provide deputies with additional training, he said.
“I don’t think Croft has the experience, the leadership skills or the transparency [for the job],” Mitchell said. “The public wants to know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, and Croft lacks that.”
Recently a former deputy resigned before being fired amid an investigation into sexual harassment claims. Mitchell said Croft mishandled the situation and should have been more open with the public.
“I think I handled the situation exactly how the community would have expected me to,” Croft said. “We had five complaints from staff that were immediately addressed and we went outside of our law enforcement agency to get that investigated and when the firm came back with the report, we let go of the individual accused of the wrongdoing.”
Mitchell said an effective leader would have addressed the situation sooner.
“I don’t know how he can say he handled it effectively when he also said he was unaware of it,” Mitchell said. “I would have addressed the problems when they were brought to my attention, and that comes from the people that worked there.”
Croft stands by his tenure and his accomplishments.
“It’s funny the only thing my opponent seems to allege any wrongdoing is on this,” Croft said. “He talks about transparency, I’ve been very transparent.”
Both Croft and Mitchell have received support through letters to the editor published in the Monitor and endorsements. Peter Shephard, a former sheriff deputy endorsed Craft, while William Hallacy, a former Concord Police Chief, endorsed Mitchell.
The two have been colleagues and friends in the past, but in this election, they face off as foes.
“I don’t have a vendetta against him, it’s just a fact that his people support me and that’s tremendous for me because those are the people I am going to have to work with as I move forward,” Mitchell said.
Croft said he is ready to continue to serve everyone in the county for another two years.
“I believe we are here to serve the people that are in the county, not just by enforcing laws,” Croft said. “There is so much more we can do. This position is also about giving back and caring for our communities concerns. As a county agency, I am here to give back to our community.”