Republican candidate for Laramie County Sheriff David Martin says if elected he would make efforts to retain deputies and aggressive pursuit of grant money among his top priorities.

Martin, who is currently a deputy with the department, says one problem right now is experienced deputies leaving the department for other law enforcement agencies that offer better pay, including the Cheyenne Police Department and the Weld County (Colorado)  Sheriff's Department.

He says that means the Laramie County Sheriff's Department is basically serving to train people in law enforcement, who then leave once they have some experience. Martin says if he's elected he would take the time to educate the Laramie County Commission on the importance of paying deputies enough so they aren't constantly leaving for other agencies

Martin says another priority would be to do a better job of obtaining grant money for various programs. He says right now the department isn't utilizing money from a number of federal grant programs.

He says one example is money for gang enforcement, where he says the department used less than $200 of a $20,000 grant in both 2012 and 2013, returning the balance of almost $40,000 total of the grant money for those two years.

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