Candidates challenging Polk County sheriff lack peace officer certification, have year to gain it if a winner

Editor's note: The headline of this article was changed to more accurately reflect the story. Candidates can run for sheriff without having peace officer certification, but if elected, must gain it within a year of taking office.

Two men challenging Polk County's incumbent sheriff — one a write-in candidate — have no law enforcement experience and currently lack the peace officer certification required to hold the job for a full term.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office employs about 600 people and has a budget of $61 million. The office also manages the second-largest correctional center in Iowa.

Under state law a person elected sheriff must be at least 21 years old and complete the training at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy within a year of taking office if they did not already do so. Physical training requirements are waived for sheriffs. 

Jaylen Cavil, independent

Des Moines BLM organizer Jaylen Cavil, 23, in July started the longest of long-shot campaigns this summer with a joke. That's when BLM members were at the Polk County Courthouse protesting an arrest and clashed with Polk County Sheriff's deputies. 

"I'm going to be their boss," Cavil said he told his friends.  

"Next thing I know, the next day, people are making signs and posters," Cavil said. 

Republicans and Democrats held their primaries in June, right at the time BLM's activism kicked off. Cavil did not want to raise the signatures required to get on the ballot. But in the weeks since then his write-in campaign took off on social media. 

He is not pouring much money into the effort, he said. Cavil is also not a trained peace officer, a requirement for the sheriff job. 

"I'm serious about the issues I'm talking about and I'm serious about fighting for these things, but at the end of the day it could be described as more of a protest campaign," Cavil said. "I don't have any type of crazy misconceptions I'm going to come in here and get 100,000 votes on a write-in campaign."

An Overland Park, Kansas native, Cavil found himself in the midst of this summer's protests against police after the death of George Floyd. On July 2 he was arrested by Des Moines Police when he stepped between officers and another protester as she was arrested.

Cavil was also cited in September for holding a protest without a permit. The cases against him are ongoing. 

Like other BLM members, Cavil wants to take money away from the Polk County Sheriff's office and put money toward other mental health and drug addiction services. 

"Folks who are struggling with drug addiction, those folks need help," Cavil said. "They don't need to be punished."

He says law enforcement should be prohibited from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And he believes cash bail disenfranchises poor people and should be ended. Under cash bail people with money have the ability to get out of jail while they await trial, Cavil said. 

“It’s classist and racist and it directly contributed to mass incarceration,” Cavil said. “It leads to people being stuck in jail who have not been convicted of any crime.”

Cavil is a registered Democrat, but running as an independent. Politically he says he falls left of the Democratic party. Sheriff Kevin Schneider and other Democrats fail to listen to young citizens’ concerns about law enforcement, Cavil said. 

“Sheriff Schneider has done a terrible job responding to the protests,” Cavil said. “As a Democrat I feel like he should be out here trying to start these conversations. But he’s not. So I’m really disappointed."

Rick McIntosh, Republican

Like Cavil, Republican Rick McIntosh, 53, does not have any formal law enforcement experience and lacks the peace officer certification required for sheriffs.

He has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for juveniles. McIntosh has also worked for several prison equipment companies. 

More:Iowa election: Meet the candidates for Polk County Sheriff

An Osceola native, his experience working adjacent to law enforcement in the courts system and prison industry gives him the experience to understand the job, McIntosh said. 

If he wins, McIntosh said he will get trained as a peace officer at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in Johnston. McIntosh sees the sheriff job as a managerial position. 

Lieutenants and sergeants with law enforcement experience should manage the law enforcement side. A sheriff’s job is to give the department resources to do their jobs better, he said. 

“I’m bringing a bunch of new things that aren’t existing,” McIntosh said. “Kevin is a nice guy, but he’s been there for 39 years and he does not have any outside experience.” 

Unlike some BLM members, including Cavil, McIntosh wants armed deputies to respond to calls involving people with severe mental-health conditions. A 2015 Washington Post story found that at least 25% of the people shot and killed by law enforcement suffered from acute mental illnesses.

McIntosh wants to increase the number of psychologists available to respond to calls for service with deputies and increase the training deputies get to respond to calls with people in mental distress. 

"I want everyone who has an encounter with law enforcement to feel the same," McIntosh said.

McIntosh and Cavil highlighted a $120,000 settlement with the Iowa Freedom of Information Council as an example of waste under Schneider. 

On July 17, 2018 Deputy Ryan Phillips shot and killed Isaiah Hayes after he drove away from a traffic stop. The Polk County Sheriff's Office said Hayes had a pistol, later found to be a BB gun. 

The sheriff's office fought to prevent the release of the footage for two years. 

The office agreed in September to pay the Freedom of Information Council’s legal fees in a lawsuit seeking the footage's release. A federal lawsuit from Hayes’ family alleging the office was “covering up” the killing is still pending. 

"It makes (law enforcement) look bad," McIntosh said. "When you try to hide it, it's just adding fuel to the fire."

Kevin Schneider, Democrat

Democrat Kevin Schneider began working in the Polk County Sheriff's Office in 1981. Schneider was appointed sheriff in December 2018 when Bill McCarthy retired. 

Before then Schneider worked in all facets of the department, from the courthouse and jail to the civil and patrol units. A Des Moines native, Schneider may be the veteran candidate, but entering politics for the first time felt unique, he said. 

"I know what needs to be done," Schneider said. "I don't always know the best way to do that, but I have a good idea. I wouldn't want to be the heart surgeon's first attempt at surgery without a proven record." 

Under him the office stepped up its recruitment of deputies within “inner-city” churches. The office works with the Asian and Latino Coalition to find good candidates too, Schneider said. 

“I can’t always understand the struggles that certain cultures have, certain nationalities have,” Schneider said. "But if I have staff members who have that understanding, that makes us run a better operation.”

Schneider was not the sheriff when Hayes was shot. Initially Hayes' family did not want the footage released, Schneider said. Later Hayes’ family changed their minds after the Freedom of Information Council filed its suit. 

The office was following its lawyers' advice when it resisted and then ultimately agreed to release the video, Schneider said.

A lieutenant narrated the video to give the public a precise understanding of what happened, Schneider said. He pledged to release more videos from similar incidents which he said will save the office “time and money” as long as it’s done within the law. 

“You’re going to see a lot more of that,” Schneider said.

Funding does not exist now to fund programs like McIntosh wants, Schneider said. Deputies are trained to use de-escalation techniques and “do an excellent job in mental health situations,” Schneider said. 

In addition to the jail, courthouse and patrol staffs, the sheriff’s office processes civil claims on issues from divorce court to mental health orders, Schneider noted. 

“There’s so many people that don’t know all the services the sheriff’s office provides,” Schneider said. “Unless you have direct contact with the sheriff’s office you don’t know.”

Philip Joens covers breaking news for The Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-443-3347 at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens. 

Your subscription makes our journalism possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.