Portage County, OH - Change is often hard to deal with. Anyone who works for someone else knows that change, even when it is for the good, is often met with criticism.

I have to admit, I did not vote for Sheriff David Doak. At the time of the election, I did not know much about the man and was complacent with the previous Sheriff. However, after meeting him and having several telephone conversations with Sheriff Doak I can say if I had to vote over tomorrow, my vote would change.

Being a new news outlet in Portage County, when I called the sheriff elect for a personal interview I did not know what to expect. I called him on his personal cell phone that was listed on his web site (I doubt he will be keeping that number), and when asked, he immediately granted the interview.

I met with Sheriff Doak on Tuesday, January 13, 2008 in his office at the Criminal Justice Center on Infirmary Road in Ravenna Township. I have been to the Justice Center many times prior to this interview, so immediately upon my arrival; I noticed several changes being made.

The first thing that stood out is that it seemed cleaner, and in fact was being re-painted by several inmates. The new Sheriff's office is on the east side of the building. The previous Sheriff’s office was on the west side of the building, isolated from most of the department and staff. Now, the offices are within the department, allowing the Sheriff more access to oversee operations.

Our meeting was scheduled to last for about 30 minutes, however, due to the graciousness of Sheriff Doak, it lasted over 2 hours and 15 minutes. It included a personal question and answer segment and then a complete tour of the facility.

Because the interview lasted so long, we will break it up into two segments. It has also been slightly edited for grammar and some items irrelevant have been removed. The Sheriff was also offered the opportunity to review these edits for accuracy in his statements.

---------- Start of Interview ----------

E-PORTAGE - Good morning Sheriff Doak, How are you today?

SHERIFF DOAK - Good, good.

E-PORTAGE - As I explained to you the purpose of this interview is really to bring a human element to your face being the new sheriff in town, to the residents of Portage County.

So lets start with, how are things going in your new position as Sheriff of Portage County?

SHERIFF DOAK - We’re all overwhelmed. I’m really pleased so far with what we have been able to accomplish in a short period of time.

For instance, I had to come in the early morning hours of the 5th, to start swearing in deputies. They weren’t able to act without taking an oath of office so that was kind of a long night.

We were here all night long for that shift, then had to come back and catch day and then the afternoon shifts. At the same time we had to begin moving the offices around here, so right now it’s a bit of a mess around here, but its getting more organized every day and were very pleased with the progress.

E-PORTAGE - Excellent, lets go back in time a little bit. Let’s start with where were you born?

SHERIFF DOAK - Ravenna, Ohio.

E-PORTAGE - So you lived here your whole life?

SHERIFF DOAK - Yeah.

E-PORTAGE - Did you go to school in Ravenna as well?

SHERIFF DOAK - Yes, I graduated from Ravenna high school.

Right after high school I joined the United States Air Force. I was in the air force from 1965-1969. My military specialty there was as a jet engine mechanic and that’s where it sparked my interest in aviation. Later became a licensed helicopter pilot.

I began my law enforcement career… I’m thinking way back now… I’m thinking it was October 1969. With Kent State Police Department. I left there in 1972.

From there, I took a job in Chesterland Ohio with Chester Township Police. It wasn’t long there when I was promoted to sergeant. There were some political issues and a change of administration going on, and I was a little bit discouraged. Then an opportunity came along to take a position in Portage County. I was at the Chester Township Police for about 2-1/2 years.

I was able to land a job under Ron Kane. He was the county prosecutor at the time. I took that job I’m thinking in 1974-1975 and met my wife, who was a legal secretary there.

In 1977 I had an opportunity… actually 2 job openings came up at one time. I had applied to the Kent City Police department and then later with BCI (Bureau of Criminal Investigation), who had a narcotics job opening.

I was notified of two positions available, one with BCI and one with the Kent Police Department. After consideration, I made the decision to stay in Kent.

I took the job and stayed there until 1995 then I came over here (Portage County Sherriff’s Office) as chief deputy.

E-PORTAGE - Under Sheriff Kaley?

SHERIFF DOAK - Yes.

E-PORTAGE - Let’s talk about the election.

SHERIFF DOAK - Ok

E-PORTAGE - Working with Sheriff Kaley, you two must have become friends. Was it tough to run against somebody that was a friend of yours?

SHERIFF DOAK - Absolutely. Yeah it sure was.

When I was chief here, I think that Duane and I perhaps had a different philosophy about the way the agency should run. There were a lot of times where we just agreed to disagree.

I had nothing personal against Duane. I’m sure that in his mind that he feels that he was running the agency the way it should be run and that there was just a difference of opinion and philosophy.

That led to some friction between us. And I don’t know how to describe this to you. I was getting pulled in a direction from some people within the agency, as well as outside the agency, to run for office.

I wish Duane well, I really do. I’m sure that he did a lot of things here that he was proud of and I think that on a job like this, if one is not careful, it can really burn you out. It’s a very demanding job and it just takes a toll on you all the time.

You’re dealing with the public, other office holders, all of the workforce here, all the people problems that go on, the budget… You can get burned out with it. I hope that doesn’t occur with me but its something I’m going to try and keep in check.

The past 2 weeks is a good example. When I came in the door Monday night to swear people, we went non-stop for 14-15 hours a day, even over the weekend.

E-PORTAGE - During the election, did you think you were going to win?

SHERIFF DOAK - In the pit of my stomach I did, yes, but in an election process, one never knows. You hear a lot of things from different people. Some will walk up to you and tell you they are certain your going to win the election, but in the back of a candidates mind there’s always doubt, I’m sure. At least with me there was. I was prepared for that when I got involved in the election.

I was really focused on the election. I worked full time on that election process for the entire year that I was running. I mean my full time job was focused on campaign and winning the campaign.

When Election Day comes and you’re faced with it. When you’re right down to the wire and the votes have not been counted, you get pretty nervous, at least I was.

E-PORTAGE - Where were you when you found out that you had won?

SHERIFF DOAK - The Italian American Club.

E-PORTAGE - How did you find out?

SHERIFF DOAK - Craig Stephens (Chairman of the Democratic Party) came down with the results

E-PORTAGE - And do you remember how you felt when you initially heard that you won the election?

SHERIFF DOAK - He announced that approximately 64% of the vote was in and that I had a substantial lead. He also thought that I was going to continue that lead. In fact that happened, but I was still kind of holding my breath until all the votes were counted. I was certainly excited and relieved that all the hard work didn’t go down the drain.

When you put everything in your life on hold, campaign day-in and day-out, raise money and all of the other things that go with an election, to lose would be pretty devastating if you don’t prepare yourself for it.

E-PORTAGE - Lets talk about life outside work for a moment, what are some of your hobbies, outside of this office?

SHERIFF DOAK - I ride motorcycles. My dad is 87 years old and I have a very close association with him. About 6-7 years ago I bought him a used Harley Davidson. He only got to ride one time last year but we were both pleased he got to do that.

I’m also a licensed fix wing pilot and a helicopter pilot. Flying has always been something I just loved to do. I never got into it on a commercial basis because I didn’t want to make a job out of it. Flying is something that I just love to do.

I’m also an outdoorsman. I love to hunt and fish because firearms have always fascinated me. I used to shoot competitively. Rifle, handgun, shot gun, I’ve always been involved in that.

E-PORTAGE - We had talked about firearms, so I take it your pro-concealed carry?

SHERIFF DOAK - I am.

E-PORTAGE - Let me ask you about an issue that many permit holders find is an issue with the current legislature.

Right now, if you hold a permit, there are a few places, mostly government, where you are prohibited from entering if you are concealing a firearm. However, the law also allows for private establishments to put a sign in their window, making it illegal to possess a concealed weapon inside.

Many permit holders would like to see that part of the legislature go away. Would you support permit holders in removing the signs at private businesses from the current carry laws?

SHERIFF DOAK - I probably would be in favor of that. I’m just speaking for my self here. I’ve been an NRA member almost a lifetime although I don’t have a lifetime membership and it’s probably something I should do.

I’m very pro-gun but I don’t force that on people. I understand and appreciate other people’s feelings when it comes to firearms. That’s just the person that I am. I was asked about that during the election. I realized that my opinion was something that I would just not change, even if it were to cost me the election. That’s Dave Doak.

As the signs go, I would probably support that, but at the same time I understand that there are places that probably firearms should not be carried. I think that a lot of the places that posted those signs, at first, were very concerned about the concealed carry. Although some of the research in other states shows that perhaps they might have over reacted a little bit with the signs. But I probably would tend to support something like that if it would come out in a bill.

E-PORTAGE - Let’s talk about, just a couple more questions. One of the things I noticed when we walked in was you have inmates painting.

SHERIFF DOAK - Yeah.

E-PORTAGE - Obviously you’re making some changes to the offices because you’re not on the other side of the building any longer.
Is that something that’s normal here? For the inmates to do the work or is that something that you implemented?

SHERIFF DOAK - It was not normal up till the time I left here a year ago. Nothing was being done with inmates. My campaign literature and I talked about starting to put inmates to work, and I meant what I said.

Duane, at some point during the campaign had pulled inmates out and was having them clean up on the roads and stuff. That’s the direction I want to go, as you can tell since there are several of them out here.

We did a walk-though of the building the other night and in my opinion, it has been neglected. It’s not been kept up for a number of reasons and again economy is one of them.

The commissioners can’t afford to have a work force out here maintaining a building this size. The money is just not there, and I try to understand their approach to things to. I know that money’s an issue to them and I’m going to try to be somewhat responsible as far as that goes, but you don’t get any better labor than this. These are low risk individuals. There are a lot of folks here who make a mistake in life, a bad judgment or what have you, that have to serve some time. They are not folks that I am worried about stealing things here in the office or a threat to any of the staff here.

I’m going to get this building cleaned up and make it presentable to the public, that’s one of my goals and I got a captive audience to do it. So I’m going to put them to work. Last week Dale Kelly pulled 21 cars in and we got 21 cars detailed.

E-PORTAGE - Do inmates work outside of these walls too or no?

SHERIFF DOAK - Yeah, I think we’re going to be looking at that. We’re going to monitor how it goes for a period of time to see how it works out. We had them outside the other day. They shoveled all around the building and shoveled the walk because the corrections officers have to check the outside perimeter. They are low risk people. One individual here has a college degree, somebody I would sit down and have lunch with. He / She is no threat to anybody, made a mistake, got some jail time and wants to keep busy and make the time go by while their here.

Good people can make mistakes. We’re going to be looking at more and more of that.

E-PORTAGE - Is that like a privilege for the inmates, to have duties outside the jail?

SHERIFF DOAK - I don’t know if I would call it a privilege. Imagine being confined in jail for 60 or 90 days. I promise you, time does not move quickly back there, it really doesn’t.

That can be a long time in one’s life and they show interest in working outside the jail. That’s been our experience here just in a week. They want to do something to make the time go by and there are some very talented people back there believe it or not.

I think what we’re going to do very shortly is we’re going to be accessing what their hobbies are and what their occupations have been so it gives us some idea how we can utilize them here.

This office a week ago was full of furniture, the walls needed painted, the office next door was in the same condition. My secretary’s office was our old conference room. With in a week and a half I think we have made quite a difference here already.

Part of the problem is this building is used 24/7 - 365. There is a lot of traffic in this building. The deputies are in and out constantly. We have a volume of people moving about in the building, and it’s just a difficult place to keep up with.

The mere size of the building requires a lot and it’s just been neglected. Nobody was doing anything with it and part of it again was money driven. I understand that, but hopefully we’re going to get the place cleaned up and presentable for the public.

You know we’re going to use inmates to do it. I hope at some point to start utilizing that sally port in the back. Major Kelly was back there last week, and like I said, he ran 21 of our patrol cars through there. We had inmates wash them, clean the inside out. I want those cars presentable to the public. I’m going to hold people accountable for it.

E-PORTAGE - I’ve noticed from everything that I’ve read that image of the department is important to you.

SHERIFF DOAK - Right. Very important. As far as uniform’s and cars. I think that’s fantastic.

Through out my career I’ve had an opportunity to work around a lot of police agencies and I’m talking federal and state, municipal, township, sheriff’s offices and image are very important to me.

I might get that from my military background. I’ve always taken a lot of pride in my uniform and the way I present myself. I think that message is sent very strong to the public. First impressions are lasting ones. I want the folks here to be presentable and I’m not going to settle for anything less.

---------- End of Interview ----------

After the interview, Sheriff Doak was kind enough to give me a full tour of the justice center. The building was much larger then it looks on the outside. We toured both the law enforcement side, where the deputies, dispatch, detectives, administrative support staff and many others work to keep us safe; and the jail side, where the inmates are held.

It immediately became apparent that he was correct about the building being neglected. There were scuffed floors, walls with holes and in need of paint throughout, furniture that needed to be updated, a general sense of disrepair.

As we walked and talked, it also was obvious that the Sheriff is sincere about wanting to improve the way that county residents view the sheriff’s office. From restoring the justice center, improving the officer’s uniforms, cleaning police cruisers, and improving response times, he genuinely cares about more than just the title that comes with winning the election.

S. Pitera – Staff Writer