Candidate: Michael Klyap Jr

Candidate's Statement

My name is Michael Klyap Jr., and I am honored to be a Republican candidate for Sheriff for 2020. I have resided in and been employed in Citrus County for three decades where I have served as a career Law enforcement professional for the City of Crystal River and the Citrus County Sheriff’s office. I am married to Erica Klyap and have three children, Michael III, Charles Reagan and Ethan. I am proud to have served this great country for 31 ½ years in the United States Army as a Military Policeman, where I retired with the rank of First Sergeant after an appointment as a Command Sergeant Major for Infantry Training Battalion, a position I held for 18 months.

At the age of 17 I choose law enforcement as a career to follow in the footsteps of my father who served as a New York City Police Officer, retiring in the early 1970’s on disability. I have had the honor of serving the great citizens in the State of New York, the State of Florida, City of Crystal River and Citrus County as a career law enforcement officer for over three decades. During my law enforcement career, I have put my life on the line each day, protecting the lives of our children, our citizens and our community, working in the most challenging and stressful patrol, investigative and undercover assignments.

 As a person who has worked for, with and has shown compassion and empathy for all individuals that I have encountered, earning their respect and treating all individuals as I would like to be treated, I have shown to be a person for the people not a politician. I have been fair, firm and non-discriminatory in making important decisions affecting the lives of individuals in our community, helping them to a better quality of life. These qualities in addition to my civilian law enforcement and military experience, my training and demonstrated leadership in positions that I have held, have proven my dedication to the citizens of Citrus County.

As a candidate running for this extremely important position, I am honored to state that I have served the people of Citrus county for virtually three decades protecting our children, our citizens and our community. I never left this great county for other career opportunities except to serve my country in combat or train our nations service members for deployment to hostile areas throughout the world. This proven commitment to my State, country and county without a doubt makes me the most qualified candidate to be the next Sheriff of Citrus County.

For over four decades I have continuously been involved with our youth, our citizens, our seniors and our veterans, dedicating tens of thousands of hours assisting them with disability claims, housing, business and educational opportunities, always listening to and solving problems that affected them and their families.

Over the course of my three decades of civilian law enforcement, I have had many rewarding assignments, to include that of Deputy Sheriff, Community Resource Officer, Patrol Officer, Patrol Corporal, Patrol Sergeant, Detective, Detective Sergeant, Drug task Force Sergeant, Lieutenant and Support Services Commander.

My military assignments as a 31.5-year military policeman, career enlisted Soldier, Non-commissioned officer and Senior enlisted advisor to Commanders, afforded me the opportunity to provide leadership to administratively manage, lead, supervise, train, introduce policy and hold accountable hundreds of service members under my immediate command. During my career my assignments placed me at various duty stations and while serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in Saudi Arabia and Iraq during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, I along with my squad were tasked with the coordination and staging of the 82nd Airborne Division organizing movement for combat operations into Iraq.

I have trained thousands of law enforcement officers in our state on survival tactics and techniques, undercover operations, incident command, firearms, defensive tactics, community policing and numerous other law enforcement topics. In addition, I have personally trained over 15,000 service members for combat prior to deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to supervising, assisting and preparing numerous combat support units consisting of thousands of service members for deployment. During my tenure while serving my country and my community here in Citrus County I earned the respected of my Commanders, my Chief law Enforcement Executives, my peers and the community I served. Each time I was reassigned or promoted, I excelled in my responsibilities and put the priorities of my officers and fellow service members first. I spearheaded and brought in a Police Union to an agency where no weapon was the same, the police cars were antique, police radios were held together by tape and rubber bands, the wages were horrible, and training was non-existent. After obtaining union representation our agency was able to issue our officers the best weapons available, acquired new police packaged vehicles, upgrade our communications, raise training to the highest standards and receive the best wages in the tri-county area. Federal grants that I wrote, processed and obtained help pay for the increase of our community policing efforts, a civilian volunteer program and provided new equipment to include less than lethal and tactical weapons.

For a more comprehensive summary regarding my career, my assignments, my education, my civilian and military training and my complete record of service to our children, our citizens, our community and our veterans, please visit my website at: www.klyapforsheriff.com. If you have questions email me at mikekforsheriff@gmail.com or call me personally at 352-302-6096

Michael Klyap Jr.