Video: Democratic candidates for St. Joseph County sheriff participate in debate
All three democratic candidates for St. Joseph County Sheriff participated in a debate sponsored by the American Democracy Project of IU South Bend the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area and ABC57. (watch the debate - in three parts - above)
The democratic candidates include Commander Tim Corbett of the county’s Metro Homicide Unit, Lieutenant Bill Redman who currently oversees the afternoon patrol division, and Chief Bill Thompson, the department’s second in command.
Tim Corbett
- Commander of the Metro Homicide Unit 16 years
- Worked narcotics for 5 years
- Captain with the South Bend Police Department
- Commander of the Bomb Squad
- Commander of the South Bend SWAT for 13 years (20 years total on SWAT)
- Trained as a sniper and counter sniper
- Served as Lead Training Officer for 15 years
- Security Consultant for Penn Harris Madison School Corporation for over 10 years.
- Instructor, Indiana Law Enforcement Academy (trained over 10,000 officers)
- Instructor in Personal Protection and Rape Prevention (trained over 3,000 women)
- Graduate of Riley High School
- Married with 4 children, 5 step-children, 11 grandchildren
Visit Tim Corbett's campaign website
William Redman
Began career in 1994 with the St. Joseph County Police Department as a Special Deputy while working in the St. Joseph County Jail.
- 1995 - promoted to the rank of Probationary Patrolman and successfully graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 1995 (Class 95-120).
- 1996 - began working as a patrol officer and was assigned to different patrol beats throughout St. Joseph County.
- 1997 - became a D.A.R.E. Officer & began teaching in the PHM School Corporation. He continued to teach D.A.R.E. for the next 18 years. During that time, he supervised the unit and increased our schools from nine to eighteen schools throughout St. Joseph County (including PHM, LaVille Elementary, North Liberty Elementary, Walkerton Elementary, Holy Family, and St. John the Baptist School).
- 2008 - promoted to the rank of Sergeant and assigned as the department's Public Information Officer (PIO) working with local and national media outlets on a daily basis. The department public relations officer oversees multiple events throughout the year, including an annual law enforcement camp for local children, the "Do the Right Thing" program, an annual haunted hayride, D.A.R.E. golf outing, National Night Out, and the "Christmas with Cops" program through our local FOP Lodge #155.
- 2010 - appointed to the position of Assistant Chief of Police, overseeing the daily operations of the jail and of our court house security (South Bend, Mishawaka, County-City Building, and the Juvenile Justice Center).
- 2012 - accepted a supervisor position as a patrol sergeant supervisor on the road patrol.
- 2015 - promoted to the rank of Lieutenant after a rigorous and lengthy testing process. Currently, oversees the second detail patrol shift, which answers the most calls for service daily.
- Member of our department's Honor Guard Unit since 1999, and currently supervises the unit. This unit participates in several events throughout the year including the presentation of colors, parades, and funerals of in the line-of-duty deaths of active police officer and of retired police officers.
- Serves on the State of Indiana FOP Critical Incident Memorial Team. This team is made up of officers specially trained in handling critical incidents. This includes, any line-of-duty deaths of officers throughout the State of Indiana. Myself and other team members also participate in the annual National Law Enforcement Memorial held in Washington, D.C. each May during National Police Week
- 2016 - became a member of the St. Joseph County Fatal Accident Crash Team (FACT). This unit investigates all serious injury/fatal vehicles crashes throughout St. Joseph County.
Commendations and awards:
- 2009 FOP Lodge #155 FOP Member of the year.
- 2010 State of Indiana D.A.R.E. Officer of the year.
- 2011 St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce Forty Under 40 award.
Personal:
- Married to my wife Kimberly for 24 years
- Four daughters: 25 year-old twins Kenzie and Kaitlyn, 23 year-old Karagan, and 19 year-old Kamryn. 4 year-old grandson Zeke
Church and Organizations:
- Granger Community Church
- FOP Lodge #155
- Indiana Sheriff's Association
- DeAmici's
- Saint Joseph County Young Democrats
- Lifetime member of the Westside Democratic Club
Coaching:
- Coached t-ball and softball at the former Northwest Little League and Chet Waggoner Little League.
- ICCL Softball Director and Coach at St. John the Baptist Catholic School.
- Currently coaching t-ball for the Mishawaka Parks and Recreation Department.
Visit William Redman's campaign website
Bill Thompson
Thompson has more than 35 years as a police officer, more than 20 with St. Joseph County Police
He's led the county SWAT and scuba dive teams and worked as an undercover drug enforcement investigator, homicide detective, and patrol supervisor.
First assignment was the Jail Division at the old facility on South Main Street in downtown South Bend.
Graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA
Training from Senior Management Institute for Police at Boston University
Bachelors Degree from Indiana University
Masters in Communication and Leadership from Gonzaga University
Personal: Wife, Emily