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The Three Rivers Republican Women’s Club held its third annual candidate forum on April 30. Suffolk Sheriff David Miles and his opponent, Issoufou Boubacar, answered questions posed by the audience about local issues.

Kerry Dougherty moderated the forum from WTAR.

Meek Dual, Boubacar’s campaign manager, attended the forum on his behalf as he could not attend because of a work obligation.

“What’s wonderful about Virginia is that we have a constitutionally elected Sheriff,” she said. “So the Sheriff in Suffolk has run unopposed for a lifetime, and we want to introduce the idea that the people determine this job description.”

Boubacar is Norfolk Police sergeant, U.S. Army Reserve captain, and currently lives in Suffolk. He has more than 17 years of  law enforcement experience and has worked with narcotics, gang investigation, and community policing.

Miles was appointed Chief Deputy in 2019, before becoming the interim Sheriff in July 2024. 

He has over 18 years of law enforcement experience, which started in 2006 with the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office in the correctional and courts divisions. He’s been with the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office since 2015.

As Chief Deputy, Miles was tasked with getting the department accredited for the first time in history. 

The first question for the Sheriff candidates was how they plan to reduce gun violence, gang activity, and drug trafficking in the city. 

Dual said Boubacar has real work experience tackling some of these issues through his work. Dual said he has “attacked gangs” through the Norfolk Police Department and has addressed human trafficking on a special task force with Homeland Security. He was also stationed in Uvalde, Texas as a part of the Army Reserves during the 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school.

“From his actual work experience, he has had to address some of the toughest violence that our country has seen,” Dual said.

Miles said even though the police department is the primary agency that tackles these problems, the Sheriff’s Department still actively participates in public safety.

He said they have partnered with the Eddie Eagle GunSafe program to teach youth what to do if they come across an unsecured firearm. They have also given away gun locks and are seeking funding for programs to teach teenagers and young adults about the criminal justice process.

“That is significant because I believe that the better informed you are, the better decisions that you make,” Miles said. “And unless we reach out to them where they are, then they’ll continue to make the same decisions.”

The Sheriff’s Department also partners with the court service unit and the youth health and family services program. 

Another question directed toward the Sheriff candidates was about improving school safety.

Both candidates talked about the importance of having designated school resource officers (SROs) in each school.

Dual said Boubacar wants to completely phase out SRO responsibility from the Police Department and have the Sheriff’s Office take it over.

Miles said he was a part of the recent discussion between the City Council and the School Board about putting an SRO in each school. The School Board requested 11, and the city gave them four, with a plan in phase in the remaining seven over the next couple of years.

After budgeting out how much it would cost the Sheriff’s Office to provide SROs, Miles said the City decided to continue using police officers because it would take a “significant investment in infrastructure” for the Sheriff’s Office to participate. 

As Sheriff, Miles said he has six deputies who are responsible for checking on the elementary schools at least once a day. 

“Our deputies still respond when there are incidents that are going on,” he said.

The candidates were asked about sanctuary cities, and how they will ensure local jurisdictions cooperate with federal immigration authorities. 

Dual said Boubacar is an immigrant and has legally become an American citizen. He fully supports legal immigration processes and wants to remain “vigilant” with all crime whether it’s committed by an immigrant or not.

“We are a local government, so we want to make sure that we’re protecting the rights of our local citizenship, kind of in conjunction with the priorities that are being sent at the federal level,” Dual said.

Miles said he agrees with city leaders when it comes to not making Suffolk a sanctuary city.

“As a law enforcement officer, I believe in the rule of law and enforcement of laws for the safety of our citizens is the primary responsibility for all law enforcement,” he said. “I will not stand for our citizens being overrun, and we will partner with the police … and make sure that our citizens stay safe.” 

When asked how human trafficking in the city will be addressed, Dual said Boubacar has worked on a Homeland Security task force combating human trafficking for 10 years and has used his identity as an immigrant to work as an undercover agent.

“With his personal experience in this area, I think he will bring a lot of value to Suffolk,” Dual said, “particularly in how to investigate human trafficking cases and ways that we can work together with our local agencies to fight this.”

Miles said they are in talks with a local nonprofit that teaches law enforcement how to recognize signs of human trafficking.  

“I know this is a problem right here at home,” he said, “and we’re going to train our staff to be able to recognize signs.”  

In her closing remarks, Dual said Boubacar apologizes for not being in attendance, but they will be sponsoring other opportunities to engage with the community. 

“We also really want to engage with organizations like the Rotary Club, our Elks, our small business organizations,” she said. “We want to create a coalition to solve some of the problems in Suffolk … we want to be the conduit for conversations.”

In his 10 years of service in the city, Miles said he’s recognized the importance of relationships. 

“I’ve invested in relationships with every single deputy in our office and our professional staff,” he said. “I’ve invested in relationships all around the city. I am invested here. No one does more community engagement than the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office.”