Chip Brooks

Charles “Chip” Brooks (born December 12, 1962) is an American politician and law enforcement official who currently serves as the 27th Hennepin County Sheriff since 2003. He was the Republican nominee for United States Senator from Minnesota in 2008.

Early life and early career
Charles Brooks was born on December 12, 1962 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from the University of Minnesota and a masters degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. While earning his masters degree Brooks started working at the FBI's Boston field office as a fingerprint clerk. Brooks was hired on as an agent at the FBI in 1986. Over the next five years, he worked on issues such as white-collar crime, organized crime, and foreign counterintelligence while at the Boston bureau.

FBI Special Agent
In 1991, Brooks received an important promotion and was moved to the FBI's Minneapolis field office where he was assistant special agent in charge. While there, he promoted inter-agency cooperation and enhanced ties between the FBI and local law enforcement. In 1994, Brooks was also appointed by U.S. President Pat Weil as co-chairman of the National Crime Commission. He was a key negotiator in the successful capture and extradition of Awad Ja'far Deeb from Korristan who was charged with the shooting death of Jamie Cochran, the Chargé d'Affaires to Korristan as well the deaths of a number of other embassy employees in October 1998. Brooks rise through the ranks at the bureau began to slow as his personal style chafed others and he made a few slip-ups by losing a bureau cell phone and Palm Pilot, improperly borrowing a car from a safe house, and losing track of a briefcase with sensitive documents for a short period. He announced his retirement on August 23, 2001. The FBI investigation was reported to have concluded that the suitcase had been snatched by local thieves involved in a series of hotel burglaries, and that none of the documents had been removed or even touched.

Hennepin County Sheriff
Brooks was elected Sheriff of Hennepin County in 2002. Sworn in on January 1, 2003, Brooks was re-elected in 2006, 2010, and 2014. In 2010 after being reelected Sheriff Brooks was involved in a conflict with the County Board of Commissioners over his budget. The conflict, arising as the budget season kicked in, highlighted the divisions among powerful elected officials who have different views of the county's priorities at a time when budgets are being frozen and services cut. Sheriff Brooks‘ policing style is influenced by the broken windows theory, a criminological theory of the norm-setting and signalling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior. He has long positions himself as a “law and order law enforcement officer”.

He has implemented longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, and three-strikes laws as county sheriff. The sheriff has also campaign to legalize capital punishment in the state of Minnesota. During his tenure as Sheriff he has also served in the roles of Commissioner of Public Safety to the Minnesota state government and Vice President of the National Sheriffs Association.

2008 Senatorial Campaign
Sheriff Brooks kicked off his campaign for U.S. Senate on May 29, 2007. He faced incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Hollis in the general election. He made the argument throughout the campaign that Senator Hollis was weak on crime, counter-terrorism, and illegal immigration. He stated that if he had been a Senator at the time he would have voted in favor of congressional approval for military action in the Middle East in 2004. Brooks opposed universal healthcare as supported by Senator Hollis and advocated for tort reform as well as stricter immigration policies. Some in his own party criticized him for supporting lowering taxes without decreasing federal spending. Sheriff Brooks supported developing alternative sources of energy such as ethanol and wind energy and supported additional oil exploration in the outer continental shelf, but opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Concerning same-sex marriage, he stated that the issue should be left to the states to decide, and that he would not support a federal ban or deeming state bans unconstitutional. He opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or risk to the mother's life.

Sheriff Brooks touted his role in the capture and extradition of Korristani terrorist, Awad Ja'far Deeb in 1998 but was criticized by Senator Hollis for his conduct while a special agent at the FBI such as temporary loss of sensitive information and improper use of bureau utilities. Senator Hollis defeated Sheriff Brooks by a margin of fifteen percentage points, 57%–42%.

Speculation for higher office
Sheriff Brooks was considered a potential candidate for the United States Senate in 2012 and for Governor of Minnesota in 2010 and 2014. He declined to run for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in both 2010 and 2014 instead running for reelection as Sheriff of Hennepin County both times. He decided to run for the Republican senatorial nomination in 2012 but withdrew citing “family and marital concerns”. Brooks and his wife filed for divorce in July 2012. His name remained on the Republican primary ballot despite his withdrawal garnering 13% of the vote.