Elkhart County will soon have a new sheriff in town

ELKHART, Ind. -- Elkhart County will have a new Sheriff at the start of the new year.

ABC57 spoke with the incoming sheriff, Capt. Jeff Siegel about getting situated in the new position come Jan. 1st.

“I want people that live in Elkhart to feel safe and go home and not have to worry about being victimized,” said Capt. Jeff Siegel, future Elkhart County Sheriff.

Capt. Siegel said that service to the community is high on his list of priorities.

“There is so much to this job,” said Siegel. “I’m inheriting a very well-oiled machine.”

But he also said he wants to put some extra attention into the jail.

“The 100 day plan. The first thing will be the staffing at the jail and simply getting comfortable in this position. We’re gonna tackle our manpower issue at the jail. We’re going to look into what’s going on over there to make sure it’s not something we’re doing, or is it the work environment or is it something we need to tweak in our hiring process,” Capt. Siegel said.

Although the Elkhart City Police have faced some trouble recently, Capt. Siegel said he has no reservations.

“There’s nothing more I want to see than Elkhart City Police getting back to where they have been and working well with their community,” said Capt. Siegel.

When asked about what he wants community members to know about the Elkhart Police Department, Capt. Siegel responded saying, “That we are here working tirelessly, 24/7, 7 days a week, to make them safe, to make them secure and make Elkhart County a great place to live.”

Capt. Siegel will continue to working with outgoing Sheriff Brad Rogers to make the transition as smooth as possible.

He also wanted his officers to know that he has an open door policy and if they’re having any issues at home or at work they can just knock on his door.