Whether on the ballfield or patrolling a neighborhood, Greg Gonzalez, the Democratic candidate for Douglas County sheriff, believes community engagement goes a long way in building public trust and reducing crime.

“Ask people what the sheriff does, or who the sheriff is, and a lot of people don’t know,” Gonzalez said. “They have a limited community engagement policy. They’ve tried to reach out to people. They have open houses, but few people come to those things. You need to be out in the community, so people can really understand what the sheriff’s department does.”

Gonzalez retired as a deputy chief with the Omaha Police Department in January, capping a 28-year law enforcement career, with the first two as a Douglas County deputy sheriff. His law enforcement career started in 1993 by then-Sheriff Richard Roth.

Working with the Omaha Police Athletics for Community Engagement (PACE), Gonzalez said he has seen how police interaction with inner city youth can benefit communities and law enforcement through sports, such as soccer, baseball, CrossFit and flag football. He envisions the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office playing a bigger role with PACE.

Serving Douglas County from the Missouri River west to Valley, deputies patrol both Omaha and unincorporated areas, with about 86,000 residents living outside the Omaha city limits. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office handles both property and people crimes.

“With a lot of construction in the county, you have  to cover everything,” he said. “Unlike Omaha police, the sheriff’s office investigates crimes that include people vandalizing mailboxes. If we’re on patrol at 2 a.m. and your garage door is open, we’re going to follow up on it. We may have 911 dispatch call you, or we may knock on the door to make sure you’re OK and no one has broken in. It’s the little things that deputies do.”

In order to achieve community engagement, Gonzalez plans to stabilize the department through recruitment and retention. Douglas County deputies have moved on to larger departments – including Omaha, Sarpy County and Bellevue – offering better pay and career opportunities, he said.

“Douglas County has been the lowest paying law enforcement department in the Metro area,” Gonzalez said. “We need to find a way to improve that for the deputies.”

With the sheriff’s office primarily a patrol department, opportunities to work in areas such as gang units and drug task forces are limited, Gonzalez said.

“If you’re going to spend the majority of your career on patrol, we need to find a way to better incentivize them,” he said.

One possible solution is recruiting retired police officers, who aren’t necessarily looking for task force roles, Gonzalez said. They may be good candidates to come in and work patrol or as school resource officers, he said.

Gonzalez has met with Douglas County deputies, listening to their concerns and acknowledging that county leaders can do more to improve morale and staffing in the department, including salaries and paying for uniforms.

“I promised them they will have a say, that they’ll be appreciated,” he said.

While Latino, Gonzalez said he refuses to let ethnicity be a driving force during his career. Yet, he believes that staffing needs to represent the community. During his time on the Omaha Police Department’s gang unit, team members needed to represent the communities they worked in, he said.

“When you’re working all corners of the community, you need to relate to everyone. You need to be able to communicate with people,” Gonzalez said. “Nothing beats old-fashioned, gumshoe investigating.”

With a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and a master’s from Bellevue University, Gonzalez’s professional credentials include graduating from the FBI’s National Academy and Major City Chiefs Association’s Police Executive Leadership Institute.

To get more information on Greg Gonzalez’s campaign, to follow him on social media, and to contribute visit: www.gregforsheriff.com.