VETERAN LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS
ENDORSE MARK WARNER’S U.S. SENATE EFFORT
~ Officials cite Warner’s bipartisan leadership, effective crisis management ~
RICHMOND, Va. – Six of Virginia’s leading law enforcement professionals endorsed former Governor and current U.S. Senate candidate Mark R. Warner today, citing his consistent efforts to support public safety during challenging fiscal times, his proven record in implementing solutions that improved public safety and homeland security, and his strong leadership during natural disasters and other crises.
The bipartisan endorsements, announced at a news conference at the State Capitol in Richmond, were provided by:
• Col. Gerald Massengill, a former Superintendent of Virginia State Police who retired in 2003 after 37 years of service. Massengill, a self-described Republican, emerged from retirement in 2005 to serve as interim director of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and also served as chairman of the Virginia Tech Review Panel in 2007;
• Sheriff Paul Lanteigne of Virginia Beach, a Republican who is in his 15th year with the Sheriff’s Department following a 19-year career with the City of Virginia Beach Police Department;
• Sheriff Robert McCabe of Norfolk, who has served as sheriff for 15 years following a 12-year career with the City of Norfolk Police Department;
• Chief Mark Marshall of Smithfield, who has 22 years of law enforcement experience, including 16 years of service to the Town of Smithfield. Marshall currently serves as Vice President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police;
• Sheriff Gabe Morgan of Newport News, a Republican-turned-Independent with almost 35 years of public safety experience, including service as the Special Agent in Charge of Investigations for the Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles;
• And Chief Garth Wheeler, the chief of police at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond. Wheeler, a Republican, has 31 years of law enforcement experience, and he also served a record four terms as president of the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police (1990-98).
[Sheriffs Lanteigne and Morgan were traveling on Tuesday and could not attend the Richmond news conference. Their recorded testimonials on behalf of Governor Warner can be viewed at www.MarkWarner2008.com.]
During his term as Virginia Governor between 2002 and 2006, Governor Warner consistently prioritized scarce budget resources to meet the state’s basic responsibility to ensure public safety:
• Governor Warner’s bipartisan 2004 budget and tax reform initiative allowed the Commonwealth to honor its unmet commitments to help fund salaries for local police departments and sheriff’s deputies;
• Taking office in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including the attack at the Pentagon in Arlington, Governor Warner appointed the nation’s first Cabinet-level state official with responsibility for homeland security issues. He also convened a Secure Virginia panel that ultimately recommended more than 150 new state laws and policy changes to improve homeland security;
• Governor Warner’s strong support for law enforcement enabled the Virginia State Police to recruit and train 439 new state troopers during his four-year term, allowing the State Police to fully achieve its designated manpower goals for the first time in 30 years;
• Governor Warner initiated a statewide AMBER Alert System to immediately alert Virginians about possible child abductions;
• Governor Warner won legislative approval in 2003 for tougher anti-drunk driving laws after alcohol-related traffic deaths in Virginia began to increase following more than a decade of declines, leading the National Council Against Drunk Driving to honor Governor Warner as the nation’s “Unsung Hero” in the fight against drunk driving;
• Governor Warner’s 2005 Executive Order requiring that decongestants commonly misused for the manufacture of methamphetamines be placed behind the counter in drugstores is widely credited by law enforcement officials for the significant reduction in the number of methamphetamine labs operating in Virginia;
• And Governor Warner made significant investments in the Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS), a digital communications system now shared by more than two-dozen state and local agencies that allows first responders to communicate effectively during an emergency.
“During natural disasters like hurricanes and floods, and especially during that frightening period when Virginians were being terrorized by the ‘D.C. snipers,’ I saw Governor Warner’s steady and effective leadership, and I respected the way he always worked to put Virginia first,” Colonel Massengill said. “Throughout his term as governor, Mark Warner gave law enforcement issues his careful and personal attention, and he worked hard to provide the resources we needed even when state budgets were tight.”
Sheriff Lanteigne and Sheriff Morgan both cited Governor Warner’s bipartisan approach. “Mark Warner has a proven record of reaching across the aisle to get things done for the people of Virginia, and I look forward to helping him take that same responsible approach to Washington,” Lanteigne said. Sheriff Morgan agreed: “I led state DMV investigations during the huge budget shortfalls that confronted Governor Warner in 2002, and I know how difficult it was for him to restore fiscal discipline in Richmond. We can trust Mark Warner to take that same approach to the federal government in Washington,” Sheriff Morgan said.
Sheriff McCabe said Governor Warner’s 2004 budget and tax reform initiatives responsibly addressed the state’s unmet commitments to support local law enforcement. “Governor Warner’s door was always open to those of us serving in local government, where most of the critically important public services are delivered directly to citizens. Mark Warner always asked us the right questions, and he impressed me with his willingness to listen and learn from our answers,” Sheriff McCabe said.
Chief Wheeler, the former state FOP president, said Governor Warner “puts principle above politics… he looked out for law enforcement when he was governor, and he made tough decisions that proved we can depend on him to do the right thing. With his bipartisan leadership style, he put the people of Virginia ahead of politics, and I am pleased to publicly support Mark Warner’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate,” Wheeler said.
Chief Marshall recalled Governor Warner’s leadership in the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel, which caused a widespread path of devastation across a broad region of southeastern Virginia in 2003. “Governor Warner came to Smithfield right after Isabel hit, and he asked us what we needed to help our people recover, and then he kept his promises to cut-through the red tape,” Chief Marshall said. “But you know what really impressed me the most about that visit? Governor Warner waited until all of the reporters and TV cameras had left, and then he rolled-up his sleeves and spent an hour helping us feed nearly 5,000 people. I’ll never forget that.”
“We respect the service of the thousands of men and women who work hard every day to keep us safe, and I am honored to have the support of these six leaders in public safety representing a combined 190 years’ of duty on the front lines of law enforcement,” Governor Warner said.
“I look forward to continuing to partner with our federal, state and local law enforcement officers as we work together to protect our communities from crime, develop new tools that will help prevent and respond to terrorism, and renew our obligation to move quickly to protect and help people when disaster strikes,” Warner said.
In 2005, TIME Magazine named Mark Warner one of “America’s Five Best Governors.” That same year, Governing magazine designated Virginia as the nation’s “Best Managed State.” And in 2006, after separate and independent reviews, the influential business magazine Forbes and the CNBC financial network both concluded that Virginia was the nation’s “Best State for Business.”
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