CORE VALUES AND ISSUES

Dave Mahoney has spent his lifetime as a “public servant” defending your safety and freedoms. Dave is a 21st Century cop who has clear priorities:

• Keeping our families safe and secure while maintaining the public trust is job one.
• Ensuring the security of all Dane County communities, businesses and neighborhoods, by working together.
• Improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and changing needs of the Sheriff’s Office.
• As your Sheriff, Dave will continue to oppose Wisconsin's Constitutional "Marriage Amendment" which intends to divide rather than unite our citizens on issues of concern. Dave will never support state sponsored discrimination. The ammendment would negatively impact domestic partner benefits negotiated in good faith by both public and private sector employees.

Keeping our families safe

• Continuing the education and front-line fight of the proliferation of Methamphetamine use that take a toll on drug users, their families, and their communities.
• Continuing to address the tragedy of domestic violence by prosecuting abusers and maintaining a commitment to victim support services.
• Working with Wisconsin State and National leadership to improve investigation and prosecution of sexual offenders who target children and access the Internet for that purpose, and to improve community notification and awareness when these offenders re-enter our communities.
• Working to keep our residents and visitors safe while traveling Dane County’s roadways through education first and enforcement of existing laws.

Quality control in the department

• Development and expansion of a Sheriff’s program to employ less lethal weapons by front-line Deputies.
• Development of a serious affirmative action plan to attract minority candidates to Deputy Sheriff positions, and a career development program to identify and promote the best qualified to leadership positions.
• Instill recognition that our Sheriff’s employees are the agencies greatest asset and shareholders in our communities.

Jail overcrowding

Dane County needs to address our pressing jail space needs because nobody could have predicted today’s level of drug and alcohol related crime and growing special needs presented by today’s inmate population. We as a community must address overcrowding humanely and cost-effectively.

Gangs / Drugs

One of my priorities will be the continued enforcement of drug laws on the books, and plan a response to the increased methamphetamine use and manufacturing and the tragedies this drug will deliver to our communities. In addition I will continue my support of drug treatment facilities and early childhood drug education programs.

Dane County has experienced an increase of children joining criminal gangs, and an increase in the level of violence these gangs engage in. I will make it a priority to address this county wide issue while working with children and family services and our faith and ethnic based communities to establish a community wide strategy and response.

Cooperation

Building close working relationships between all levels of law enforcement has been a 25 year commitment, and will continue to be a priority as Sheriff. We must bring Federal, State and Local law enforcement agencies closer together in fighting crime, and doing it more cost-effectively.