To the Concerned Citizens of Dickens County, I am Ricky West, and I attended the Meet the Candidates Thursday night in Spur. I feel sure that it was not intentional, but there was a lot of misinformation given out. Knowing the truth, I cannot sit by and not speak out.
I have been associated with the Dickens Sheriff's Office off and on for the past 20 years, working full time for the past 6 years as a Jailer/Dispatcher.
Here are just a few of the misrepresented topics: 1. Jay [Allen] has never campaigned while in his county truck, nor on county time.
2. Drugs are a big problem in our county. Jay has been working with outside agencies and has gotten two of the main players in federal prison, and has several cases involving both drugs and sexual assault against a child working their way through the State court system. Without the help of the FBI, CID and other agencies and surrounding counties that he is working with it would be impossible to clean up our county.
3. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a welfare check or emergency call that has not been followed up on by the Dickens County Sheriff’s Office.
4. Citizens must understand that the current deputies are employees of the sheriff and have a set schedule and are working as they are told.
5. A lot of citizens are judging Jay by the current administration. That is not fair. He is an honest and just man that can and will stand up and do what is right. He could not help that he could not be at meet the candidates. He was doing his job. There was the opportunity for everyone to come out and meet Jay and ask questions on Monday and Tuesday nights.
6. As far as jail standards and training, citizens have no idea how much is involved and how much is at risk with one little mistake. It could mean losing our jail at a cost of housing prisoners out of county for $1,800/month which will continue to rise. Keeping that in mind, our jail also houses inmates for Motley, King, and Kent Counties. These counties provide a revenue stream for Dickens County.
7. As far as the Sheriff’s Office charging Spur for the deputies patrolling Spur, an agreement between the Sheriff and Spur Mayor was to pay the deputies overtime to cover Spur. Jay and Ramiro worked their county shift, and then worked an eight-hour shift in Spur for 10 months with no days off. Keep in mind Spur PD is the primary law enforcement agency and Dickens County is the secondary law enforcement agency for the City of Spur. Dickens County has always [backed up] and will continue to back up Spur PD officers.
8. Through my research, Jay Allen has arrested 20% of the inmates booked into the Dickens County Jail as of January 1st, 2024.
These are just a few of the misinformation topics that were brought up Thursday night at the Meet the Candidates forum.
Thank you for your time, Concerned Citizen Ricky West
