Bob Ogden holds the title of special sheriff in the Dukes County sheriff’s department, where he has worked his entire career.

He moved to Martha’s Vineyard shortly after finishing college at Westfield State University. He and his wife Jeanne live in West Tisbury, where they raised their daughter.

He is running as a Democrat, after winning a two-way contest in the September primary.

Since 1994 he has served as the department’s director of drug information, and is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) officer for Island schools.

“The reason I’m running is quite frankly, duty,” Mr. Ogden said in an interview this week. “I’ve done every job that’s possible over the years with the sheriff’s office. I went from correctional officer to shift commander, through the ranks from sergeant all the way up to my role as special sheriff.”

He has the endorsement of Sheriff Michael McCormack, who retires in January.

And he claims to have a different view of corrections than his opponent.

“We need to rehabilitate these people,” he said. “The programs that we have now, the reentry program, is in the right direction. I would not change any of the services.”

Mr. Ogden also has strong views on the issue of transporting prisoners from off-Island for incarceration at the Edgartown house of correction. Inmates can be transferred to the Island only with the agreement of the sheriff. If elected, he said he would accept fewer prisoners.

“Normally they’re protective custody people, their lives are in danger at other facilities,” he said. “There’s an obligation for us to partner with the other 13 county sheriffs. To some degree we have an obligation to keep those relations. When we’ve had them over, their crimes for the most part are non-violent. They don’t pose a threat to the community. The stigma we’ve always had is we bring someone over here, they get out of the facility, then they make a home of Martha’s Vineyard. There’s no evidence, we’ve tracked this, to say when someone gets out of our facility, they end up living on Martha’s Vineyard.”

The sheriff’s department operates the communications center, which dispatches law enforcement, fire personnel, emergency medical services and all other public service agencies on the Island.

Many first responders say the radio communications system has significant shortcomings. “We understand the issues. Primarily the issue is money,” Mr. Ogden said. “The technology is out there but it’s a matter of being able to get those grant dollars. I’m very excited about some of the ideas that are coming out. We’re on the threshold. In the next few years you’re going to see a much better system.”

Both candidates would consider a novel approach to heroin addiction, based on the model which has drawn national acclaim in the Gloucester police department.

In that model, addicts who come to the station and turn over their drugs are not arrested, but paired with a recovery specialists.

“We’ve trained someone at our community corrections as a recovery coach,” Mr. Ogden said. “I see great potential in that, getting to that person before becoming part of the system, going through the vicious circle of drugs, go to jail, come back out.”
 He said he has been involved in public service since he moved to Martha’s Vineyard.

“When I came over on the boat that first day, I got off the Islander, drove a borrowed car to the sheriff’s office, put the uniform on, and have been here for 26 years. We love this Island and we care about the community we live in. I have the experience, I have the acumen, and the knowledge of the facility. My administrative background, whether it be through projects and programs I provided or directly through the house of correction, makes me the most viable candidate.”