Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

One more enters the sheriff’s ring



MEEKER COUNTY, MN – Brian Cruze, an investigator with the Meeker County Sheriff’s Department is the fourth to announce he will be running for the position of sheriff.

“As Sheriff my top priority would be demanding the highest level of integrity from the staff and maintaining a high level of trust with the citizens of Meeker County as I have done personally throughout my career,” Cruze said in a press release.

Cruze is among four candidates who have come forth after Sheriff Jeff Norlin announced his plans for retirement – Jon Thoma, John Wayne, and Ben Aho (at a precinct caucus).

Cruze notes his education, work and life experiences have brought him to a point in his career that he feels he could make a positive impact to Meeker County as sheriff.

Starting his law enforcement career in 1994 with the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy, Cruze was later assigned in 2000 as a narcotics investigator with the CEE-VI Drug and Gang Task Force as a representative of Meeker County. Cruze explained this is a regional task force made up of specialized officers from Meeker, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Swift and Yellow Medicine Counties.

“Having spent my entire career with Meeker County, I know the needs of the community and the sheriff’s office,” Cruze notes.

“Having been assigned to the regional drug task force I have been given a unique opportunity to see how other departments operate as well as observing a variety of different programs,” Cruze said, adding that effective community-based law enforcement requires mutual respect and trust between the citizens and the sheriff’s office. “If the trust in the sheriff’s office falls, so does the cooperation of the citizens.”

He said partnership between the department and the public is key to creating a better and safer community for the citizens of Meeker County.

Public education and preventing criminal activity is a priority of his.

To learn more about Cruze and a link to his campaign website, click here.

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