Dear Wood County Voter,

I am honored to serve you as Sheriff. This is the most interesting, challenging, and rewarding job I could ever imagine. As your Sheriff, I have touched many lives, hopefully in a positive way. My goal as Sheriff is to have all law enforcement working together for the citizens.

Wood County's Special Response Team is highly trained and handles high risk situations. It has responded with Fostoria Police's SWAT team on several occasions. I have personally responded with my Special Response Team several times in Fostoria. We have trained with Fostoria's SWAT Team and have a good working relationship.

One of my most visible accomplishment for the Fostoria area was the Zero Tolerance Task Force which we organized together my first year in office. The joint effort of three counties, Hancock, Seneca, and Wood, working together for the good of the community is showcased with the ZTTF. The ZTTF has not removed all illegal drug use from the community but has made major strides in this direction. All of the costs associated with the deputy, including the vehicle, are paid for by the ZTTF.

In addition to the new ZTTF deputy we also added a deputy to our road patrol in 2006. By having this deputy we added to the road patrol we can increase our patrols and reduce response times.

I have re-assigned a deputy to full time undercover drug work in Wood County. Our drug arrests have doubled since this occurred. I want to send a strong message to drug dealers that Wood County is not the place to conduct business!

9-1-1 calls have increased by 400 percent and I have hired two additional dispatchers to handle this increase. One of the dispatcher's entire salary is covered through Public Utilities Commission funds. Once they are trained I will increase my staffing minimums to best serve you.

A detective that was assigned to the FBI many years ago is now assigned full time to work cases here at home. Wood County's detective bureau is second to none and at full staff. They have worked closely with jurisdictions within Wood County and neighboring counties. This has allowed them to solve some major crimes including a theft ring that involved twenty two break-ins in Wood County alone.

I have cut $630,000.00 worth of annual expenses and received over $500,000.00 in grants and other funding sources! All purchases go across my desk and I question to see if we really need what is requested and whether we can buy it somewhere else for less. I have traveled to Columbus many times to lobby for dollars or to meet with state officials that fund our grants. Our grants include money for bullet proof vests for all deputies. Our vests are replaced on a five year rotation which is the life of the vests.

I do not have a secretary, so, I answer my own phone, open my own mail and check my e-mails regularly. When I am out of the office I forward my office phone to my cell phone. I check my voicemail frequently.

I am your Sheriff twenty four hours a day seven days a week. My status is the same, day and night. I drive a fully marked vehicle that is equipped with radios that allow me to directly communicate not only with all the first responders in Wood County but all the neighboring counties. From this vehicle, I can communicate directly with every Sheriff's Office in the State of Ohio. Communication is vital in emergencies. This system was used when our Special Response Team was requested to help with the riots in Toledo and subsequent rally at One Government Center. I was able to monitor the situation as we responded.

I also do death notifications in the case of fatalities in Wood County. I respond to the scene first to get all the facts and then make the personal contact. I personally conducted twenty five death notifications last year.

We have increased the amount of money spent on training deputes six fold! The deputies need proper training so when you call they are able to safely and professionally handle the call. I am constantly raising the bar of accountability.

Last year, due to the outstanding work of our drug enforcement deputies, we, received over $120,000.00 in drug forfeiture money. We have put those dollars right back into our operations by getting the deputies much needed new hand guns which replaced eighteen year old hand guns. All deputies working out of the office have tazers. We recently signed a contract to get mobile data computers in our patrol cars paid for through forfeited dollars.

I ask for your vote so I may continue working with you and your community leaders to make Wood County the best it can be.

Sincerely,

Mark Wasylyshyn, Wood County Sheriff