We Recommend

 

04:48 AM CST on Wednesday, February 13, 2008

 

Police commanders and rank-and-file officers often find themselves at odds over policies, procedures or whether today's sky is blue. It's the nature of the job.

So we took notice in November when the Dallas Police Association endorsed Lowell Cannaday for Dallas County sheriff – a full two months before the group knew for sure who would be in the field. Dallas' dominant group of officers, in effect, said it didn't matter who else was running. Mr. Cannaday was their guy.

This is significant because he rose through the Dallas Police Department ranks to near the top of the command staff, before leaving in 1994 to become police chief in Irving. (And, for that matter, the primary Irving officers' groups have endorsed him, too.)

What these officers see is the same thing that leads us to recommend that Dallas County Republicans nominate him: responsible leadership, tested over time, with the wisdom to bring order and respect to a Sheriff's Department desperately in need of both.

We are intrigued and impressed by the candidacy of Cockrell Hill Police Chief Catherine Smit, 47, an energetic, concept-driven option. While she has brought needed calm to a small-suburb department that really needed it, our concern is that she needs more seasoning on a larger stage.

Mesquite police Lt. Charlie Richmond, 50, is making the fight against illegal immigration one centerpiece of his campaign. He also has written a promising plan to fix Dallas County's jail problems. In a lesser field, he might measure up.

The fourth GOP candidate is former Sheriff Jim Bowles, who was voted out in the 2004 primary. He tends to not remember why Republicans turned away from him, despite a 20-year tenure that dissolved into mismanagement and allegations of corruption. We have not forgotten.

Mr. Cannaday, 70, most recently served as an Irving City Council member, adding civilian management to his impressive law enforcement background. As that city's police chief for a decade, he managed a $35 million annual budget and about 300 officers, created a Domestic Violence Unit and designed and personally instructed a departmental ethics training program for his officers.

Dallas was where he cut his management teeth in his 28 years, rising from 1966 Rookie of the Year to sergeant, lieutenant, captain and ultimately the command staff. He ran the Central, Southeast and Southwest operations bureaus through the 1980s and early 1990s. By 1994, he commanded the Operations Support Bureau, where he developed the department's long-range strategic plan and built and implemented a Total Quality Management Program.

Beyond an unmatched résumé, Mr. Cannaday is a thoughtful, responsible leader who would bring respect and realistic vision to the Sheriff's Department. His presence would lift a department staffed mostly by capable but demoralized officers. It also would help repair relations with county commissioners who have lost confidence in the current administration.

He is the Republican Party's best choice for this election.