Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 17, 1995 TAG: 9505170045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COMMUNITY TIES AND FAMILY: Lived in Montgomery County since 1968. Turned to police work after a brief stint as a guard at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. Member, VFW Post 5311 and First Church of God in Blacksburg, where he chairs the finance committee and has served on the church's board. He is married and has three daughters.
CAMPAIGNING: Door-to-door
MASS MEETING TURNOUT GOAL: A political newcomer, he offered no guess.
LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERIENCE: Joined the Christiansburg Police Department in 1971 after 2 1/2 years as a Blacksburg patrol officer
WHY HE'S THE BEST CANDIDATE: "The fact that I have been in the management end of law enforcement for a long, long time."
Marrs became Christiansburg's first investigator in 1977. He is now the department's lieutenant of investigations, making him third in command. In that post, he has supervised employees, been involved in budget and policy decisions, written grant proposals and taught at regional police academies.
KEY COMMENTS: "We have to prepare ourselves for the 21st century." Marrs said law enforcement should "make sure we select people that will fill the criteria of a police officer and be able to [function] down the road as their careers develop."
Marrs, like Bolen, stressed the need for proactive, rather than reactive, law enforcement.
"I want to establish a unit ... that targets known criminal behavior and the people that are doing that." He also wants to start a "ride-along" program to encourage citizens occasionally to ride with deputies to gain a better understanding of what a law enforcement officer's job is like.
Marrs also says he wants to explore the possibility of housing noncounty inmates in the jail as space is available as former Sheriff Louis Barber did. Other jurisdictions are willing to pay well for housing inmates, he said.
A GOOD SHERIFF IS ONE WHO: "has the ability to get along with the community he serves and the foresight to listen to the community that he serves."
LAST MOVIE SEEN: "Sister Act"
LAST BOOK READ: "How to Win Friends and Influence People," by Dale Carnegie.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." -John F. Kennedy
Keywords:
POLITICS PROFILE
by CNB