Cope, Smith and
Owens seek to
aid local police

By Mary Garrison
Tribune-Courier Features Editor
mgarrison@tribunecourier.com

MARSHALL COUNTY – Three candidates are vying for the position of third district constable in the upcoming elections. David Owens will face Jonathan Smith in the May Democratic primary. The winner will campaign against Republican candidate Danny Cope.

And at this moment, the seat is wide open.

David Owens, owner of Owens and Son Heat and Air in Palma, has been in business for 22 years and active within the communty for almost as long. A member of the Calvert City VFW and American Legion and firefighter with Palma-Briensburg, Harvey-Brewers and Benton Fire Departments, Owens has been making a home for himself in Marshall County since 1978. Now, he said he wants to help protect the homes of those around him by serving as district three constable.

Owens said he’s been interested in the position for several years, and he feels he has the experience to back it up.

Owens said he’s served as a special deputy on patrol for two and one-half years under former sheriff Brian Roy and with the U.S. Navy as shore patrol for four years.

And his education is an asset that lends itself well to the position, as well, he said. Owens has two associate degrees under his belt from the University of Kentucky Paducah campus [formerly known as PCC] in criminal justice and private investigation.

“I enjoy working with law enforcement,” Owens said. “I think I have the background to do this.”

Owens said if elected, he intends to focus on assisting the sheriff’s department with such tasks as serving legal documents. He said he hopes to become another set of eyes and ears for local law enforcement to utilize.

And while he said he has no plans to change basic operations of the office if elected, Owens said he hoped to one day see pre-requisites of the office.

“I’d really like to see it a requirement to have some law enforcement experience to run,” Owens said. “It only makes sense.”

However, he said his main objective is to serve the community he’s grown to love.

“I’m just really looking forward to serving my friends and neighbors,” Owens said. “It would be an honor to serve the citizens of Marshall County.”

Smith, like Owens, has had an active role in the community. Having previously served with Palma-Briensburg Fire Department, he is currently the assistant chief for Harvey-Brewers Fire Department, and he too, knows something of the workings of law enforcement.

Smith spent much of his youth as an Explorer, a division of the Boy Scouts that prepares young people for careers in emergency services. Those roots, he said, helped cultivate his love for law.

And for the last eight years, he’s worked in the midst of it, serving as a 911 dispatcher.

“I love my job,” Smith said. “I’ve always wanted to help my community.

“A lot of law enforcement officers are stretched thin right now,” he continued. “We keep some of these officers going from one call to the next, continuously, and it can take hours to properly investigate. I see this as an area in which I could be of assistance.”

It is his main objective, in fact, to assist in duties other officers of the sheriff’s department may have little time for, such as serving papers and patroling neighborhoods.

Smith said he also hopes to make the office more viable through additional training, as well as more visable. Smith said if elected, he intends to play a bigger role in neighborhood watch development and making the office more accountable with accurate, prompt paperwork.

“I want to be more accessible to the public,” Smith said. “It bothers me, as a citizen and a taxpayer, that we don’t use our elected offices to their full potential. I want to become an agency we can depend on.”

Republican candidate Danny Cope also hopes to put his experience and ambition to good use.

Cope, owner of Danny Cope and Sons Excavation on Sharpe School Road, has been in business in Marshall County since 1971, and while spending some time in residence in McCracken County, he said he’s been a long-time taxpayer and resident of the county.

Cope is no stranger to politics, either. The self-employed excavator has spent 12 years on the Jackson Purchase Energy board of directors and served as county commissioner in McCracken County for five years.

Cope, like Owens and Smith, has been actively involved in the Marshall County community, as well. Cope said he helped to begin the Possum Trot-Sharpe Fire Department and is active in the Lion’s Club, having served as one of only six district governors in the state.

“I feel like through my involvement in these things I’ve got the experience to be a real asset to the sheriff’s department and Kentucky State Police,” Cope said. “I can be a great partner to them in taking care of legal activity in the county.”

Cope said he’s been thinking of running for the position for the last four years, and he’s seen how burglary and drug problems have escalated. He said he hopes to help change that.

Stepping up neighborhood patrols, he said, could be a valuable asset and serve as a deterrent to criminals.

“If you’re driving down the road where you know there’s a patrol car sitting, chances are, you’re not going to be speeding,” Cope illustrated. “It’s the same concept. The presence of an active constable will be a positive to any community.”

Cope said while his main objective is to assist law enforcement, he does not intend to take anything away from those agencies, only to alleviate some of the burden.

“I can be instrumental in forming neighborhood watch groups,” Cope said. “I know a lot of people in this county and they know they can call on me. Simply patroling and people knowing you’re out there can add to the confidence of taxpayers, knowing there is another someone out there concerned for their safety and welfare.”