PRINEVILLE – To be ready in case he is elected, Crook County sheriff candidate Gary Robertson has done his homework.

He has studied the department’s budget to see where he may be able to fund extra deputies. He has a four-year strategic plan ready to go.

Robertson, 36, a salesman at Robberson Ford, has even sketched out a county jail, knowing the day to build a new facility will have to come soon.

”The answer is not to keep adding positions,” Robertson said. ”The answer is to move the pieces to do strategic planning.”

Robertson, a former sheriff’s deputy and police officer, believes he has a history of getting the job done that will help kick his plans into action.

As a police officer for the city of Silverton for eight years, Robertson said he got the department grant money to install mobile data terminals, or laptops, in the police cars so officers could access data from the field. He also helped the department save money by leasing vehicles from the state.

Robertson said he is dedicated to public service, a commitment displayed by the Medal of Valor he received for pulling a woman and her son from a burning house.

He plans to use that same gung-ho approach to updating the sheriff’s office and restructuring the staff so there are more patrol deputies.

Robertson wants to get the sheriff’s department more enmeshed in the community through things such as a citizens on patrol program and stationing deputies in outlying areas.

”I want it to be a department that everyone wants to work at,” Robertson said.

Age: 36

Residence: Prineville

Family: Married, two children

Education: Two years in community justice and applied science at Chemeketa Community College in Salem

Employment: Salesman at Robberson Ford in Prineville

Law enforcement experience: Crook County sheriff’s deputy, May 2003 to November 2004; Dallas police officer, five months; Silverton police officer, 1992 to 2000; Stayton police officer, 1991 to 1992

Certification: Currently certified by Department of Public Safety Standards and Training

Contact: www.robertson4sheriff.com