By Audrey Stratton | Local Happenings
David Thoroughman is the recent winner of the Scioto County Sheriff’s Race, and will take office on January 4, 2021. Thoroughman is a graduate of Portsmouth High School. He now resides in Minford with his wife Tanya, and his children; Olivia, Simon, and Carly.
Thoroughman has an extensive background in law enforcement with having 32 years of experience. David served our country in the United States Air Force. He served as Security Police, which is the Air Force version of Military Police.
He served at the Portsmouth Police Department for 23 1/2 years where he retired as Captain. During his time at the PPD, he also served as the acting Chief of Police. He worked on patrol for many years, working all three shifts.
While on patrol, he served as a patrol officer, a sergeant, and a lieutenant. Time on patrol was broken up by his time serving on the Southern Ohio Drug Task Force, which was our county’s local drug task force.
After retiring from Portsmouth, he was hired by Shawnee State University to transition the security department into a hybrid department containing both police and security personnel.
I asked David why he had ran for Sheriff, and his answer was simple; “to help make our county safer.” He explained to me that he had never even had a desire to run, but so many people had asked him to.
He explained that he was very humbled by the number of people who expressed their desire for him to run. He is inspired by their belief in his ability to bring about change.
He says that he loves community service and doing what he can for our community. He believes that he can do even more for the citizens of Scioto County in the position of Sheriff than he can in his current position.
I talked to David about his plans for the county. He stated that he will enhance school safety, consolidate services (which will result in saving tax dollars), and re-establish the local drug task force and K-9 unit. He wants to pursue the endeavor of building trust and community partnerships with the people whom he serves.
He plans to host community roundtables to receive the input and needs of the citizens of Scioto County and to leverage new and improving technologies. He hopes that the community roundtables will make it easier for the community to engage with the Sheriff’s office.
He plans to pursue federal and state grants to purchase new equipment and vehicles, to cover overtime costs, and to add additional officers to the streets. A countywide 9-1-1 center will be established, increasing the efficiency of emergency response while also reducing the cost to our citizens. He also plans to work with each township to enhance the quality of life in our community.
The Sheriff’s race in Scioto County was a very close one. When I asked him what the local support meant to him, he stated, “ I am so blessed and honored to have the community support me winning this election. It was the community that asked and encouraged me to run and I am humbled.”
He stated that he was grateful to Shawnee State University for them allowing him the opportunity to work for them. He is very grateful to have had “the great honor of building the Department of Public Safety”.
As a student at Shawnee State University, I can say we will definitely miss him. He has built a great department and an even greater legacy. He was always there to support us and he was always engaged with us on personal levels.
It has been a running joke that he needs to let me take one of the Police side-by-sides for a ride. I asked him when he won if he would let me finally drive one before he left, and I got a very lengthy, “NOOOOO.” So if you see me riding one anyways, you will probably find him chasing after me.