Promises to ‘do what the law says’
Sealing likely the most interesting Sussex County changeover from November’s elections, former Delaware State Police officer Eric Swanson was sworn in Tuesday as the new Sussex County sheriff.
Swanson won more than 53 percent of the vote on Nov. 7, unseating the eight-year former Sheriff Robert Reed, who stirred controversy by attempting to secure full-service law enforcement duties for the office.
According to Sussex County’s governmental Web site at www.sussexcountyde.gov, the Sussex County office’s main duty is to serve papers for the courts and hold sheriff’s sales.
“I’ll do exactly what the law says,” promised Swanson, a former high school teacher who relinquished his private investigator’s license to take the sheriff’s seat. “If it gets changed, I’m more than willing to work with (County Council),” Swanson said of Reed’s efforts to expand the job’s traditional duties. “(But) people elected me to do what the law says.”
Swanson said again Tuesday and has always contended that he will not seek full-service law enforcement duties for the office. He also continued to stress Tuesday the need for a positive, working relationship with Sussex County Council, saying his office should follow the legislative body’s lead on policy decisions.
Swanson also reaffirmed Tuesday his desire for more officers, however, to enhance courtroom security but said the state would have to be a willing partner.
“If that’s what they want, the state is going to have to figure into the equation with some money,” he said. “Something is going to have to be worked out. You have to be fair.”
Despite two rulings from then-Attorney General Jane Brady, Reed contested for years that wording in the Delaware Code and the Delaware Constitution grants the office full-service law enforcement duties, as many sheriff’s offices perform elsewhere in the region and nationwide. Rep. Pete Schwartzkoph (D-14th) introduced two bills this summer designed to change wording in the Delaware Code to remove any confusion. The bills got stuck in a committee, leaving the issue still somewhat up in the air.
Reed has continued to attempt to enroll his deputies into the Delaware State Police Academy so they could receive proper training for Delaware law enforcement. County Council, state officials and the Sussex County police chiefs have disagreed with Reed about the duties of the office, though, calling the sheriff’s office strictly a civil unit meant to serve the courts.
The outgoing sheriff’s disputes with municipal officials surfaced publicly this summer when one of his deputies allegedly responded to a crime on the west side of the county. Georgetown Police Chief William Topping sent a letter on behalf of the Sussex County Chiefs Council earlier this year, censuring Reed.
“The Sussex County Chiefs Council has voted to censure the actions of the Sussex County Sheriff. The Chief’s Council feels that our respective jurisdictions do not require the assistance of the Sheriff’s office,” Topping’s June 13 letter reads. “He and his deputies are not trained as police offers and should not act as police officers.”
Reed quickly responded with a letter of his own, saying that specifically the last line of Topping’s letter put him and his deputies in danger while they transport prisoners, one of the outlined duties of the sheriff’s office.
“Chief Topping’s reckless, slanderous and untruthful statements could possibly put these deputies in danger while performing their duties,” Reed’s letter reads. That letter was read into the County Council record on June 23. “It is amazing how certain groups wish to diminish the office of an elected Sheriff who is responsible to all citizens of Sussex County.”
Reed contended even up to the last week before the election that part of that responsibility to the people of Sussex County includes taking “action” if a crime happens in their presence.
“Some people call it bickering. I call it trying to express one another’s points,” Reed, after being ousted, said about the recent disagreements. “It’s not the end of the world. There was a life before the sheriff and there will be a life after sheriff. It’s going to go in a different direction now.” He did not return calls seeking further comment.