The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A 30-year veteran township policeman was picked March 30 by the Somerset County Democratic Committee to run for Somerset County Sheriff.
Lt. Darrin Russo, who will be retiring from the township department on July 1, was chosen at the Democrats’ annual convention. The current Sheriff, Frank Provenzano, has held the position since 2002.
“We are thrilled” to have Russo on the ticket, county Democratic chairwoman Peg Schaffer said. “He’s got the experience in law enforcement, he’s respected by his peers.”
“I’ve already been contacted by many of the people who serve with him to tell me what a great choice we made,” she said.
Russo said he was planning on retiring at the end of 2016, but decided to do so earlier when the opportunity arose to run for Sheriff.
He said he decided to run because “I thought I had a few ideas that can improve the services for the people of the county.”
Russo said his focus would be to get the Sheriff’s Office more involved in the county’s communities.
“I thought over the years of having Sheriff’s Officers go to the individual police departments and learn what we do, and we could learn what they do,” he said. “I think it makes the job a little easier for everybody if you’ve experienced it.”
Russo said he would do the same thing with county corrections officers.
“I think it would make the teamwork and cooperation a lot better,” he said.
At their convention, county Democrats also nominated Bridgewater resident Marie Rodriguez for Freeholder, Chris Faraone for the 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman for the 12th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and Hillary Clinton for President.
