Stueben County Sheriff Candidate: Chris Emerick

On this episode of Frontline Voices, we sit down with Steuben County Sheriff candidate Chris Emerick, a veteran law enforcement leader with decades of experience serving his community.
Emerick shares his journey from the Marines to the front lines of policing, and what’s driving him to step forward and lead as Sheriff. We dive into the real issues facing Steuben County—public safety, leadership accountability, officer development, and the evolving challenges law enforcement faces today.
This isn’t just a campaign conversation—it’s an honest look at the mindset, values, and leadership philosophy behind the badge. Expect real talk about tough decisions, the future of the sheriff’s office, and what it truly means to serve a community.
If you want to understand the person behind the campaign—and the direction he believes Steuben County should go—this is a conversation you don’t want to miss

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

This is Frontline Voices. Conversations with our local heroes. Here's your host, Matthew Blake.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Well, Chris, thank you for stopping by, Frontline Voices. I know you've been very busy on the campaign trail. I appreciate you taking the time and answering some questions. Starting off, you built a long career in law enforcement, starting with the Marines, then the Ashley Police Department, and now as Detective First Sergeant, sorry about that. How did your experience in the United States Marine Corps shape your approach to leadership and decision making in law enforcement today?

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Well, first off, I want to thank you for having me. It's definitely an honor for being here. To answer that question, looking back at my Marine Corps career, I was there for four years, and going through boot camp taught you a lot about discipline, uh leadership, and working as a team. Nothing we did in the Marine Corps we ever did by ourselves. It was always a group effort, a team effort. Getting through boot camp is a huge mental versus physical. So if you gotta have that mental mindset and working with other people in within the platoon just to help you get through that basic through boot camp. Um and then through the rest of the Marine Corps, we always worked on team development, uh leadership skills, working as a team, leading by example, um and just having the forewithal to see the big picture and deal with a lot of difficult, stressful situations, and then falling back on your training and then your other teammates to get through that adversity, whatever it was. So coming into law enforcement, I brought a lot of that with me. Um and I use a lot of that with the special response tactical team, which I'm in charge of. Um, I always believe in leading by example. I believe that everything I learned in the Marine Corps was very easily carried over into law enforcement. Um, working in that team approach. You can't solve every case by yourself. You have to have a team effort. Just like the Detective Bureau, I have other people that help me. There's no way I could solve some of those complex cases that I've worked by myself. It just wouldn't work that way. Um making decisions under pressure, um, being on the tactical response team or even cases that I've worked as a as a detective, a lot of times there's a lot of pressure to make the right decision. And as long as you make a decision, like I tell the guys on the tactical team, whether it's a right or wrong decision, just make a decision. You just can't stand there and not do anything. You have to do something. So the Marine Corps also taught me that you have to do something, whether it's the right decision or the wrong decision, make a decision, stick with it, and then own up to that decision if it's a bad if it's a bad decision. Um, hold yourself accountable for it, learn from your shakes and move on. So I've carried that, everything I've learned in the Marine Corps over into the law enforcement side.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

It sounds like uh teamwork and collaboration has kind of been the core of your professionalism since the beginning. Yes. As the head of the Detective Bureau, you've handled serious and complex cases. What experiences in that role have prepared you the most for becoming sheriff?

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Um, I think when you work all these complex cases I have, whether they'd be homicide cases, some a lot of the sexual uh offense cases that I've worked in, things like that. Um, you've got to work with other agencies. Again, it kind of falls back. I can't do it on my own. So whether I'm working with the state police, uh, another county, another local jurisdiction, or something like that, you've got to be able to work together, build those relationships, and then collaborate together. It's the same approach that I would take in being a sheriff. I can't do it by myself as a sheriff. I gotta rely on the people that work with me. Um, I gotta make sure I surround myself with good people, and I got to build those relationships up with other agencies in the area, whether it be the state police, other sheriff's offices, uh, local agencies within this dominant county, not necessarily law enforcement, but also with the fire departments, um, EMS, emergency management. We've got to work as a team. Um, so everything I've learned as a detective, building those relationships, it just carries right on over to the sheriff's office, the sheriff's position as that way, then.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

So along with your very busy schedule, you've also served as an adjunct professor at Trine University since 2017. How has teaching influenced the way that you lead and mentor officers?

SPEAKER_02 4:46

So, teaching at Trine, I've learned over the years not everybody learns the same. Um almost 20 years now, I can tell you that when I first started in 2017 in the early days, uh, my teaching approach has definitely shifted and changed because um as the generations change, they learn differently. A lot of people like to learn hands-on. Some people can just read it and understand it and comprehend it that way. So I've got to figure out on my for my students' aspect of it, which way do they learn better and make sure I'm tailoring the classes I teach for each individual student within there, but I still have to teach them as a group. So that is also translated over into law enforcement when I have younger officers that come in either working the road, or um maybe they work in the confinement staff or they're coming up into the Detective Bureau, understanding that sometimes you have to change the style of your teaching so people can understand what you're um trying to get them and explain to them what they need to learn, and you may have to do it different ways. So, teaching at trying, I've learned that there are several ways out there that people learn differently. Um, on top of that, it actually helps me um retain some of the knowledge, especially in crime scene investigation and um evidence and things like that. I don't use everything on a daily basis. So when I teach there at trying, a lot of times I'm learning myself or refreshing my memory on things that maybe I don't do that often. Um, learning new technologies, learning new methods and things of that nature that maybe have developed um within the last 20 years, and I can actually bring that to the law enforcement side as well. Um so I use fall back on everything I teach at trying to use in the law enforcement side in uh the Detective Bureau. Um, and then I also use that to help mentor and train the new deputies that are on the sheriff's office.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Find those strengths and the weaknesses and work so that they can all succeed.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

So a big thing that has come up is supporting your deputies. What does supporting your deputies mean to you in the practical terms? And how would you show up day-to-day under your how and how would that show up day to day in your leadership?

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Um, so not only do I have to support the deputies, but I also have to support the confinement staff, the communication staff, uh the admin staff, and even the maintenance staff. So it's just everybody thinks that it's a sheriff's office, it's just the patrol deputies that are out there. There's a lot more to the sheriff's office than just the patrol deputies. So I've got to be there and support each and every one of those divisions within the sheriff's office. Um way to support them is one being present, make myself available to them, uh, make sure I develop each and every person that works out to the sheriff's office, either through training or mentorship, um, making sure they have all the necessary equipment and tools that they need to be able to complete their jobs on a day-to-day basis. Um for me, just being present, being available to them, um, making it very well known that if you need something, let me know. Um, you know I don't or I feel that I work for them, they don't work for me. I'm there to get them what they need. I need I'm there to make sure that if they need certain tools, resources, or certain trainings, that's my job to make sure that they can go to those and get those resources. Um but just having that open door communication where they feel free to come and talk to me and they don't feel like you know um they're gonna have a discipline issue or they're gonna feel like you know, I can't come talk to the sheriff. I want them to be able to come and talk to me anytime they need to.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

I see that's that's very important to have that that support. This next question I want to talk to you about because especially since the whole COVID thing, there's been a lot of negative things out there about the police agencies and stuff like that. And and you talk a lot about transparency to kind of mitigate those situations, right? So, what role should transparency play in the modern policing and how would you implement that as sheriff while still protecting active investigations?

SPEAKER_02 9:09

So I believe you need to have open communication both with your staff and with the public. Now, I understand that there are times when we're we have investigations going on or instances have happened within the county that maybe you're not able to release some of that information to protect maybe the victim, protect the integrity of the investigation that is going on. Um, but even then you're able to at least give some information out, um, give an update. Um, even if it's just very basic, um, putting out a small press release is better than putting out nothing at all. Um because if we don't put it put anything out, then people in the community are going to start talking amongst themselves, start talking to other people. And we all know that anything put on social media is truth. Um so getting ahead of that and at least putting something out as much detail or as much information as possible without damaging the integrity of the investigation or compromising anybody or any personal personnel matters, things of that nature, um, at least just get out there and communicate. Uh, make sure you have those relationships built up with the community, uh with the news media, uh, the other organizations within the county as far as the fire departments, EMS, emergency management, um, and just have that good working relationship and be able to talk to people. And if they have questions, make sure you can um make yourself available to answer those questions. Um, even if you can't release the information, at least give them a little bit of something like, you know, it's under investigation. When we can release more information, we will at that point in time, but just not keep keep quiet about it.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah, don't let people stay in the dark when because like you said, yeah, uh rumors start swirling and then it's it's it's a problem. Now I have to tell you, this endeavor that you're taking on Stewang County is very unique. And it's not like any other any of the surrounding communities. So I would like to know. With Stewang County being uh unique in its lake communities, how do you plan on improving safety both on and off the water, especially during peak seasonal activity?

SPEAKER_02 11:18

So on and off the water uh with the peak seasons, one you gotta look at uh making sure as far as the water's sake, you gotta have visibility out on the water. Um, if that means in which would turn into increased patrols. Now some people would say, well, it's the DNR's the conservation officer's job to patrol the lakes and things like that. Um which I'm not saying that's not their job, but we need to work in um collaboration with the DNR. The DNR can't cover every lake, sheriff's office can't cover every lake. Um so we need to make sure that we're working with the DNR, looking at their schedules, looking at our schedules, and trying to make sure that when we're doing our staffing, especially during the busy times, um, the weekends, things like that, we have somebody available that can be on the water. Now, again, we can't cover every lake, but we can get out there during some of the major events and things of that nature, the holidays and things and be on the water. Um, but that visibility alone will help decrease the possibility for boating accidents, um, potentially decrease the potential for boating while intoxicated. Um, because we all know that officer presence out there deters a lot of activity from happening. If you're driving down the interstate and you see a you know somebody sitting a cop sitting in the medium, what do you automatically do? You check to see how fast you're going to slow down. So it's just that visibility and that presence can deter a lot of things from actually happening. Um making sure as far as off the water, um, when we have major events within the county, especially on the holidays and the weekends during the summer, make sure we have the staffing that's going to be available. And that might mean working with the other agencies within the county, finding out you know what their staffing levels are for certain periods of time, and then coordinating our staffing with their staffing as well. So it's got to be a it's got to be a group effort. Um, it can't be the sheriff's office versus the other local law enforcement agencies. They need to work together so that way we can make sure we provide adequate coverage across the whole county, even if we need them for assistance or we assist them. Um, you also got to look at your budgeting um as far as that is concerned. We typically get a LAR grant, um, depending on the dollar of that amount of the grant. We need to make sure that that money is available for the whole season. We don't want to burn through all that money for the first month and a half, two months of the of the summer, and then the latter part of the summer around Labor Day and things of that nature, we don't have money for increased patrols. So looking at it from a budget aspect, you need to make sure that whatever money from that LAR grant that we do get is able to be stretched out across the whole month, the whole summer months instead of just a short period of it. Same thing. If we know we have events during the summer, which we typically do, we can make sure that we we have staffing levels that correspond with the high calls for volume, and also that our overtime budget, we take a look at that and we just don't spend it all at the beginning of the year or um even three-quarters of the way. That overtime budget needs to last the entire year. So making sure you work within your budget and plan for emergencies, plan for things where you're gonna have increased activity and making sure you can have that staffing levels available for that.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

You bring up an interesting uh conversation, and that is you know, increasing visibility out on the lakes and increasing, but I obviously with things like SB1 coming down the pike and and budget cuts and stuff like that. How will you ensure financial responsibility while still maintaining improving service levels for the community?

SPEAKER_02 14:55

So I look at the budget and financial responsibility the same way I do my own personal finances. Um I know that I have a certain amount of money that I'm bringing in for from work with my wife and myself and any other part-time jobs I may have and that she has. So I have to make sure I budget that for the entire year. Now, so you got to work with it with within your budget and try to stay within your budget and within your means. That may mean looking at your budget and deciding, okay, these are our needs that we have to have versus what you want. I mean, a lot of us want things like you know, I want a brand new truck, I want a brand new house, I want this, I want that, but can I afford that? Is it within my budget to have those? And if it's not, we need to work on what do we actually need, you know, the target enforcement, the staffing, making sure we have the officer presence on the lakes, the officer presence within the county, and get our needs covered first. And then, okay, what are our wants? Do we have money in the budget to cover or get some of those wants that we uh would like to have? If it's in the budget, great. If it's not, then we need to make sure we just stick with our needs. So you gotta you gotta look at it. It's a seven point about a $7.2 million budget. Um, but there's a lot that goes into that. You've got the jail, you've got communications, um, you've got the sheriff's office. So there's a lot of moving components of it. So it's just looking on that, staying on top of it. Um, and you just got to have somebody who's fiscally responsible and is able to handle a $7.2 million budget. Um, up at Clear Lake, I have a budget up there. Um now, granted, it's not as big as the sheriff's office, um, but I've been there for um almost 10 years, and every year I've stayed within my budget. Um, I work with the council, um, making sure that I have adequate funding and things of that nature. Um, and I make it work. Now, again, not really comparing apples to apples, but I have a very uh very good sense of money and and being financially responsible with it.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

I like that, yes. Sticking to your budget, having a plan, following the roadmap. That that's how things work out. We're gonna pivot a little bit here. And I want to ask you, how do you handle internal accountability and how might your approach differ from traditional law enforcement leadership models?

SPEAKER_02 17:22

So I think the internal accountability comes to, again, kind of going back to the transparency, being um as open and honest as you can, especially as long as it's not damaging or um hindering an investigation, um, having good communication with your staff, um, having good communications with the public, making sure that your the staff at the sheriff's office understands their rules and responsibilities and what you expect of them and set clear expectations. Uh, make sure they remain professional and not have them um guessing at what you mean by a certain policy or thing of that nature. The policy should be um or there is a guide for people. And if they have a question about it, they should be able to come to the sheriff or their supervisor and ask that specific question for any clarification. It shouldn't be left to left open to interpretation. Um, they should be able to understand what they need to do. Um, so holding them accountable, um, if I understand people make mistakes, um, as long as they learn from their mistakes and we move on, um, that's what I expect of them. There are going to be times that maybe deputies or other staff members you know do something and we have to hold them accountable for that. Um, make sure they understand what they did was wrong, and whatever the discipline is for that, make sure it's consistent across the board. So if somebody does have a discipline issue and whatever that discipline was, if somebody else happens to do something a year or two later, it needs to be consistent. So they know that hey, what happened to this person was this. That was that's what I'm gonna expect my discipline to be because it's gonna be consistent across the board. You're not gonna show favoritism over some deputies over the other or other staff and things of that nature. It needs to be fair, consistent all the way across the board.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

I like that. Yeah, it's keeping things consistent, and then that that takes down a lot of the temperature in the room when it comes to discussions. One of the things that you'd mentioned earlier, you talked about working together with fire and EMS and EMA. Collaboration has been a huge part of your platform. How will you strengthen relationships with local police departments, fire departments, EMS, and volunteer agencies?

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Um, so again, being present, making myself and my command staff available to them. Um, you know, it doesn't have to be us against them. It needs to be um more of we are doing this. Um so getting with the fire departments, getting with the law enforcement agencies, getting with other agencies, EMA and things of that nature, so that we can actually work together, communicate ahead of any sort of a critical incident that occurs, actually train together so that way if there is some sort of a critical incident, act of threat, you know, even some sort of man-made uh disaster or natural disaster, um, there is just a seamless transition from maybe one agency to another agency because we're all doing the same training and we understand and know our jobs and responsibilities. It's just not the sheriff's office coming in there and then we're expecting the other local law enforcement or maybe the other uh fire departments to come in and not know what we're doing and we don't know what they're doing. But if we train together and we collaborate together ahead of time, um doing tabletop exercises, uh maybe just having normal meetings. I know there's a chiefs and officers meetings every other month, making sure we're attending those, making sure we have the open communication, finding out what the fire departments need from the sheriff's office, and making sure that the fire departments know what we need from them. Um sheriff's office is in charge of the communications. Um, there's a lot of times that there are things that the fire departments maybe need that we're not providing from that aspect. Um if they make that need known to us, if it's something that we can actually uh make happen, then that's definitely something we need to look at and to be able to help them do their jobs better and to make sure that they stay safe. So it's got to be a working relationship with everybody within the county.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

I have to tell you, that's one of the things here that Chief Barron talks about is you know, keep what working with that collaboration. We come sometimes joke about it because collaboration comes up so frequently, but it really is it's a it's a very important thing, and we all have to work together to make everything fit. All right, we're gonna get into some tough questions here. What do you see as the top three priorities for the Stewart County Sheriff's Office over the next four years? And how will you measure success in those areas?

SPEAKER_02 21:59

So I think the top three things are going to be staff development and training, making sure that they have the resources they need, making sure that they have the knowledge that they need to perform their jobs correctly and very efficiently. So making sure that we have that. That also kind of plays into the other thing would be morale. We've had some pretty tense, pretty tense few years here lately. So working on that morale level, working on that trust and that communication and setting clear expectations for them and letting them know that I'm here to support them. So if you get the development and education build up along with that morale buildup, hopefully that will then transfer into retention of the deputies and other staff members. We all know that you even with the fire department side, if you put a lot of time and a lot of money into developing and training a staff member, if you don't retain them, then you lose that time and the effort and the money that you've put into them. They're using it kind of like a stepping stone to move to another agency or something like that. So you need to make sure that those those staff members have buy-in to your agency, make it so that it's part of their own, and they want to stay there and actually make it a career instead of just using that as a stepping stone. So again, staff development through training and things like that, getting the morale boosted up, and then retaining those officers to make that a career. If you can retain those officers, they're going to be much more um educated, and it'll actually help with your budgeting because of the fact you're not constantly training and getting new equipment for new staff members year after year after year, which will actually help reduce your cost.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

So it sounds like you've got a pretty pretty set game plan on how how to achieve these goals that you have, and that's obviously you're very focused on it because with the Q sirens going off, you were able to maintain focus. Um I have to I have to say, in in this race, I have to commend you and Mike both. Um you know listening to both of you talk, talk about your platforms and stuff like that. I love the way how you guys have have kept it clean and respectful throughout the whole thing. And I and when I've talked to Mike before, I even told him this this same thing. You guys have been cordial and respectful, and there's no mud slinging. And I just I have to uh commend you you both that you've kept it in a way that is respectful because in today's politics and stuff, things can get a little a little dicey. So both candidates in this race have strong law enforcement backgrounds. What specifically set you apart from your opponent and why should voters choose you?

SPEAKER_02 25:09

So I think a couple things that really set me apart from my opponent, um, and not talking bad at about Mike at all. I've known Mike for a very long time, um, actually almost 30 years. Um, but I think my uh military experience in the Marine Corps, uh, my leadership skills from that, what I learned with my discipline, um, being able to think and react under pressure, um, react decisively, and um carrying that over into my law enforcement career. Um, I've been in law enforcement for almost 30 years. I started out here in Ashley with the Ashley Police Department, so I know what it's like to work in a small town. I understand what it's like to work with staffing issues, budgeting issues. Um, and I've learned that through working at the town of Clear Lake as a town marshal up there for the last almost 10 years. Um, I have a budget I have to stick with. I have staffing that I need to make sure we have adequate officers working at different times. Now, again, during the wintertime at Clear Lake, there's not a lot going on, but in the summer months from uh May through September, we're really busy up there. I mean, our population in the wintertime is about 300 and some residents, and then in the summertime, we're up to three to five thousand people that are up there at the lake. Um, so working with that and understanding that, working with the town council, staying within my budget, making sure I have good equipment for the guys that are working up there at Clear Lake. Um, I bring that to the table. Um, and then as a detective um in charge of the Detective Bureau, just working with the other agencies throughout the whole area. Um, I've worked a lot of cases where I had to reach out to the state police. I've had to reach out to other agencies across state lines, um, I've had to reach out to um different organizations to work some of the complex cases that I've worked. So building those relationships with not only agencies within our county, but within the region and across the United States. Um, I worked a cold case back in uh 2019. I was actually reaching out to other officers and agencies in Colorado, um, up in Michigan, um, down in West Virginia and Virginia and things of that nature. Um, and those are some of the relationships that I built up when I went to the FBI National Academy. Um, but also besides that, um, being the SWAT team commander leader for the last um almost 20 years now, I've been on the SWAT team for about 25 years, um, but just being able to think under pressure and making those decisions that I know could be life, life-threatening. Um, you know, my goal on any operation we do is to make sure everybody um comes out safe and alive, and knowing that those decisions I make could affect whether or not somebody comes home at night or not. And how am I going to be able to live with myself if I have to go to somebody's house and tell their wife that hey, you know, so-and-so is not coming home tonight because of a decision I made. So I always make sure that every decision I make is with the the safety and having a successful mission, whether it's for the officers that are working or for even the citizens that are out there. Um so I bring that to the table. Um work or being an adjunct professor at Trine University, um, I'm bringing the um mentorship and the training and um everything I've learned at Trine, teaching for the last 20 years, I'm bringing that to the table for all the younger officers and even for the staff that are currently there, understanding that people learn differently and at different rates. Um, and every year I teach at Trine, I just that just reinforces that um concept to me of being able to transfer that to the sheriff's office. Um, and then it goes back to budgeting and being financially responsible with my own money. Um, you've got to have somebody who knows how to handle money, both in their personal life, and transfer that over into the uh the sheriff's office. So I think a combination of all of that over 30 years, and then my four years in the Marine Corps, um, bringing all of that to the table with all the life experiences I have, um, all the training I have, um, and then surrounding myself with good quality people, um, it makes me a better candidate.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

I like that. I like that a lot. As we get ready to come to a close with the podcast, there's two last questions that I ask everybody. And this first one, I'll I'll tell you, it um when I first started asking it, it was a way to kind of see what everyone's self-reflection is, right? How they judge themselves. And then, you know, with recent events that's taken place this last year, I found out how incredibly powerful it is when those questions are really asked. So I have to ask you, and I know you don't have any plans of this happening anytime soon. At the end of the day, when you're ready to hang it up and and and call it quits, what's the things that you want to remember? Well, you want the community to remember, your colleagues to remember, and most importantly, your family to remember. What is the legacy that you hope that you set forth?

SPEAKER_02 30:18

Um, looking back on that, I would like to think that they know that everything I did um was for the betterment of them or the community, um, that I wasn't doing it for myself, and that um I actually cared and um was just available to them and know that if they needed something, they could reach out to me and I would I would be able to have the answer to their question, um, or just be present for them to look just to sit and listen to them if they had you know wanted to talk about something. Um so it's not really about me, it's all about them. Is what I would hope that they would take from that.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

That's awesome. And finally, the pressure's off. But I like to ask if you could recommend anybody for this podcast, who would it be and why?

SPEAKER_02 31:23

So I'm gonna go off on a limb here, and she may not like this very well, but actually my wife. So um my wife just well, she was nominated and actually got the uh for Business Weekly the top 40 under 40 award um down in Fort Wayne here not too long ago. Matter of fact, that was the only event she hasn't attended with me so far because she it was the same night as Meet the Candidates Night. Um, but I am so proud of her. She is, you know, she started off um basically entry-level in the hospital, and she is now the manager of um, well, just underneath the director, but of all the labs in the whole parkview system, um, which is a lot of labs. And she has a lot of people that are underneath of her, um, plus the aspect that she is a deputy coroner, so she works with the community, um, and so she brings a lot of perspective from her job at Parkview to the coroner's office, and vice versa, from the coroner's office to Parkview where she's actually working at. So I'm gonna give her a shout-out. She's been my campaign manager this whole time. I do listen to her, she has some great ideas. Um, I don't want to take credit for all everything I've been doing because a lot of it's a joint effort between the two of us, and she always sets me straight and makes sure I stay on the path that we need to be on. And she has a lot of good ideas. So I think if I had to recommend anybody right now, it would be actually Emmerich.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

That sounds wonderful. We'll uh definitely be looking into that here in the short future. Well, sir, as we come to a close, I now get to present you with one of these as a guest of the show. I want to thank you for coming on today, discussing some some of the key points that you feel is important, talking about a little bit of your background, and um you know, I just want to say uh I wish you luck in the upcoming election. And um thank you.

SPEAKER_02 33:19

Thank you very much for having me, man. I definitely appreciate it. It's been an honor being here.

SPEAKER_01 33:23

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

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