Coker endorsed by former deputy, policeman

To the Editor:

As a former city of Libby police officer and Lincoln County sheriff's deputy, I would like to take this opportunity to offer some thoughts on the upcoming sheriff's primary election.

During Clay Coker's tenure as chief of police in Libby, he has taken a department that he formed from the ground up in 1996 and by 2002 was the first agency in Montana and 11th in the nation to be awarded the National Institute of Ethics Certification of Integrity. As an expert in many fields of law enforcement, Coker is a certified instructor in numerous areas of law enforcement passing down his years of training and experience to new and veteran officers at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy and locally as well. Coker is constantly updating and acquiring training and equipment necessary to keep up with the current strategies related to law enforcement work.

Having worked with both Republican candidates, I am very glad that when it came time to go into harm's way and make arrests, it was with Clay Coker. I completely trust my life to Coker, something I would never say about the other Republican candidate.

In closing, if I were still a Lincoln County resident I would make sure Clay Coker's name was the name I cast in hopes to see it reappear on the ballots in November.

Josh Harth