A press release from McHenry County Sheriff’s candidate Bill Prim:

VETERAN POLICE COMMANDER BILL PRIM DECLARES  CANDIDACY FOR SHERIFF;

VOWS TO RECONNECT OFFICE WITH THE PEOPLE OF MCHENRY

Veteran Police Commander and longtime McHenry County resident Bill Prim announced Wednesday that he will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for McHenry County Sheriff in 2014, running on a platform of reforming and revitalizing the Sheriff’s Office.

Comdr. Prim, recently retired from the Des Plaines Police Department after a 27-year continuous career, said the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) desperately needs to break from its recent practices and forge a new identity based firmly upon the principles of

• accountability;
• improved community relations; and
• a new emphasis on tapping volunteer enthusiasm.

The 20-year Cary resident brings with him a wealth of experience and decades-long ties to other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. He vowed to repair the tattered fabric of relationships between the MCSO and other county agencies and their leadership.

“The Sheriff’s Office needs to work with and alongside other county departments,” Prim said. “No good has come out of all this constant intra-county friction.”

Similarly, Prim said, the various web of relationships with state and federal agencies needs rebuilding, not least because they can become the sources of much-needed funding, as can asset forfeiture (confiscation of funds and tangible assets from criminal defendants), a practice in which Comdr. Prim is an acknowledged expert.

In addition to supervision at every level, Prim has seen active service in various law enforcement specialty functions such as

• Gang Crimes
• Narcotics
• Criminal Investigations Division
• SWAT and
• Hostage Negotiation

and has graduated from some of law enforcement’s most prestigious training academies, including Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command.

Prim said that if he is elected, the first task will be to repair and restore the image of the MCSO in the community.

“Whether real or simply perception, the image of the Sheriff’s Office currently is one of a private club managed for the benefit of its members, not a professional law enforcement agency drawing its legitimacy and authority from the citizens,”

Prim said.

“I intend to change that.”

In addition, Prim believes that top layers of management at the MCSO can be thinned without impacting safety or the quality of service.

If he is elected Sheriff, taxpayers can expect to see economies in administrative staff, Prim said.

Prim said that while the general election is more than two years away, and the Republican primary roughly a year and a half, he will begin to seek support among elected leaders, businessmen, law enforcement professionals and private citizens.

The various official and unofficial elements of his campaign will be developed in due course, he said, but he wanted to put interested parties on notice that he will be a candidate, and intends to be a successful one.

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You can read Prim’s resume here.

Almost a year ago McHenry County Undersheriff Andy Zinke announced his candidacy with Sheriff Keith Nygren’s full support.  August 1st, I learned of Jim Harrison’s intention to run against Zinke.  Now there are three.