Mike Lowell (D)

Mike Lowell (D)

MIKE LOWELL
Sweetwater County Sheriff Candidate

Party: Democrat

Listen to our candidate interview below:


TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF…

I was first elected Sheriff in 2014. Prior to that, I served with the Rock Springs Police Department for a total of 32 years, with 12 of those years as Chief.

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I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and a Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts, with emphasis in Criminal Justice.

Before beginning my law enforcement career, I served with the United States Marine Corps both on active duty and as a member of the Marine Corps Reserve.

My wife Virginia and I have six children and 15 grandchildren.


WHAT MAKES YOU THE BEST CHOICE FOR SWEETWATER COUNTY SHERIFF?

When it comes to any incumbent, myself included, the clearest answer to that question can be found by examining the record. Let’s Look at the Record:

  • Among my goals in my first term was creation of a special detective unit tasked with a special focus on drug enforcement and fugitive apprehension and building effective K9 teams.
  • Our SNAAG (Sheriff’s Narcotics and Arrest Group) detectives commenced operations early on and its first week made 13 arrests.  Since then the SNAAG team has been involved in well over 400 arrests and fugitive apprehensions on charges that include Drug Trafficking, Felony Drug Possession, Drug Manufacture, Conspiracy, Homicide, Aggravated Assault and Battery, Interstate Flight, Weapons Violations, and Escape. In many instances, fugitives wanted in Sweetwater County were tracked  to and captured in Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Montana, and as far away as Kentucky, Florida, and Alaska.
  • Over time we also assembled our current K9 teams and provided them the extensive training required for general patrol work and drug interdiction. The results speak for themselves; since October of 2017 alone, our K9 units have made more than 20 felony drug arrests and seized over than half a ton of marijuana, liquid marijuana, dab (marijuana wax), heroin, and methamphetamine, with a street value of well over $5 million.
  • In Wyoming, county sheriffs are charged with oversight of sex offender registration. (In Sweetwater County, we average 100 offenders in current residence.) We’ve upgraded our own sex offender registration system and increased the frequency of face-to-face sex offender compliance checks throughout the county. I think those contacts are particularly important – when we find an offender who is non-compliant, we charge him.
  • I was the first sheriff in Wyoming to establish a 24/7 sobriety program, which compels repeat drunk drivers to take a breathalyzer test at the Sweetwater County Detention Center twice a day, every day, or face potential jail time. It’s a commitment to modifying dangerous behavior through swift and certain sanctions.
  • In 2017 alone, Americans lost over $900 million to scammers. That’s why we established a program called “Sweetwater Scam Alert,” a social media and news bulletin service that warns Sweetwater County citizens about Internet, telephone, and mail scams, helping people to avoid becoming victims of crime.

In addition, I implemented a reorganization of the Sheriff’s Office based on merit, achievement, and leadership, fostered merit-based hiring and promotion practices, upgraded Sheriff’s Office technology to keep pace with ever-increasing public safety and criminal justice system needs, enhanced training for patrol, detective, and detention personnel, and worked diligently to maintain a high level of security for our Circuit and District Courts. Last year alone, we logged over 23,000 public safety, emergency services, law enforcement, and detention center tasks, contacts, and assignments, including calls for service, criminal investigations, sex offender checks, prisoner transports, arrests, citations, traffic stops, traffic crashes, motorist assists, building checks, property watches, welfare checks, alarms, fires, 911 calls, and animal calls, an increase of 20% over the previous year.

I bring to the table not only 3½ years of service as sheriff, but 12 years as Chief of the Rock Springs Police Department. That’s more than 15 years of executive law enforcement command experience handling multi-million dollar budgets, the full range of personnel command and management, and all other aspects of law enforcement agency and detention center administration.


WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH AS COUNTY SHERIFF IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS IF RE-ELECTED?

I want, of course, to continue with and enhance the programs and strategies that have worked so effectively, including our SNAAG detective unit, our K9 teams, the 24/7 program, Sweetwater Scam Alert, and our registered sex offender monitoring, as well as our patrol strategies,  investigative work, and effective approach to detention center management.

In 2017, we implemented the Sweetwater County Detention Center’s first audit and I plan a follow-up in 2019 in order to take advantage of and stay current on new trends, policies, and court rulings on detention issues – it’s extremely important that we remain on the cutting edge in this vital area.

Budgeting and staffing continue to be areas of special concern and challenge. Compared with the Rock Springs and Green River Police Departments, the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office is the lowest-paid of the three. Under these circumstances it’s difficult to compete for top candidates; I look forward to working with the County Commission and the county’s Human Resources Department to mitigate this situation.

In the meantime, I hope I may look to continue leading the committed professionals of the Sheriff’s Office in their most important duty – protecting what the people of Sweetwater County value most.


HOW CAN VOTERS GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?

The campaign’s email address is contactus@reelectsheriffmikelowell.com , and our website can be found at www.reelectsheriffmikelowell.com 

Our Facebook page is Re–Elect Sheriff Mike Lowell; I can be messaged there. We’re on Twitter at reelectsheriffmikelowell@reelectsheriff2, and on Instagram at reelectsheriffmikelowell .

And, of course, I can be reached at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office at (307) 922-5300.