For three years, Frank Cassidy worked under Merrimack County Sheriff David Croft, but he resigned in 2023 after alleging that Croft fostered a “hostile work environment,” according to his resignation letter, which was shared with the Monitor.

Now Cassidy, a Republican, is challenging his former boss, a Democrat, for the top law enforcement post in the county.

“I think integrity needs to be brought back to that office,” said Cassidy, who worked for the sheriff’s office for 21 years prior to his resignation.

Croft, who has served as sheriff since 2020, declined to comment on what he characterized as “personnel things” but said he had “no ill feelings for [Cassidy] whatsoever.”

“We never had a bad relationship,” Croft said.

But Cassidy disagrees. During the period the two men overlapped, Cassidy served as an undercover drug officer, wearing his hair long and sporting a bushy beard. He said one of their primary disputes surrounded how often Cassidy was expected to come into the county facilities. Both men agreed that spending too much time there could have blown Cassidy’s cover, but Cassidy contends even the weekly visits Croft requested were too frequent. When he did come in, Cassidy said Croft was rarely present.

“At one point, he wouldn’t even talk to me,” Cassidy claimed.

Croft responded that he was “satisfied with the amount of times [Cassidy] came in” and said that his own job involves being “out assisting my community,” rather than sitting behind a desk.

Croft also defended his leadership more broadly.

“I am one of a handful of agencies in this county that are full-staffed,” Croft said. “We’re at an unprecedented time where trying to get police officers is horrible. There’s no issues at my office; everybody in my office is 100% behind me. We all love going to work.”

While Croft and Cassidy differ in certain ways with respect to their law enforcement priorities and recent experience, their early professional backgrounds are strikingly similar. Both men served in the U.S. Marine Corps, as correctional officers, and in local police departments before starting at the county sheriff’s office.

The widest chasm in the race might be found in the divergent stories the former colleagues tell about the history of their interpersonal relationship.

What do county sheriffs do?

The position of county sheriff has its roots in ancient English law and has been enshrined in New Hampshire’s state constitution since 1784.

The Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office has five divisions – communications, court security, detective, transport, and civil – and is staffed by about 65 employees. The office has an operating budget of approximately $5.1 million, and takes in approximately $1.6 million in revenue, according to the county’s most recent budget document.

The office staffs the Merrimack County Superior Court and provides law enforcement support to the 27 municipalities in the county, among other responsibilities. Unlike in many states, the sheriff does not have jurisdiction over county jails in New Hampshire.

The position comes with an $81,648 annual paycheck, which will increase to $85,730 in 2026.

Who are David Croft and Frank Cassidy?

David Croft

After a six-year stint in the Marines, Croft worked three years as a correctional officer at the Merrimack County Jail. He then spent 22 years at the Boscawen police department where he rose to chief.

In 2007, Croft became the director of the county attorney’s diversion program, which he ran until being elected sheriff in 2020.

“I learned a lot about substance use disorders,” Croft said in an interview in August. “I learned a lot about mental health issues. I dealt with a lot of people that were struggling with homelessness, domestic violence.”

That experience has informed his approach to law enforcement as sheriff, he said.

Frank Cassidy

After his Marine Corps service, Cassidy got a job as a correctional officer at the state prison in Concord. In 1997, he became a full-time police officer in Epsom, serving there and in Pittsfield for five years.

Cassidy started at the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office in 2002 and worked a range of positions during his 21 years in the office, including for the last 13 years as an undercover officer in the Attorney General’s Drug Task Force.

In addition to his concerns with Croft’s leadership, Cassidy said he is running because the region’s drug problem has worsened.

Croft is “doing nothing to combat the issue,” Cassidy claimed.

What would Croft and Cassidy do as sheriff?

David Croft

Drawing from his experience working closely with people with substance use disorders and mental health challenges, Croft has focused on community engagement and diversion as sheriff.

“It’s time that we bring that back to law enforcement and let citizens see that we are passionate about helping people in doing things,” he said. “It’s not just going out and writing tickets and arresting bad people.”

Croft previously served on the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness. He is in the process of certifying his staff in crisis intervention training, which is geared toward interacting with people dealing with mental illness and substance abuse.

Croft is also working on getting the office accredited via the state’s Police Standards and Training Council.

The job of sheriff also has a significant financial and administrative component, a realm in which Croft criticized Cassidy’s lack of experience.

“My concern with my opponent is his lack of experience in being able to do this job,” Croft said. “I have had the luxury of being a police chief, managing people and preparing and administering a budget. I did the same as the director of the diversion program and I certainly have done it over the last four years as the sheriff.”

Frank Cassidy

The first thing Cassidy would do as sheriff would be to reinstate someone to his former position on the drug task force. Cassidy has criticized Croft’s failure to do so thus far, as well as for being slow to assist certain local police departments that were short-staffed.

Croft acknowledged that he hadn’t replaced Cassidy, but attributed the lag to the task force currently being re-structured. He declined to go into specifics about how he staffs the local departments, except to say that Cassidy’s claim was untrue.

More broadly, Cassidy’s philosophy on diversion also may differ from Croft’s in certain respects.

“If you’re a first-time offender, I’m not necessarily against trying to give you an alternative,” Cassidy said. “However, when you’re on bail and you continue to sell or you continue to use, I think that’s an issue. At that point now, we need to take a different approach.”

Croft clarified that “diversion was set up for first-time offenders.”

“I am steadfast on illegal substances in this county needing to be prosecuted and people needing to be held accountable,” Croft said. “But a lot of times, folks make mistakes in life, and if it’s a low-level offense, and we can rehabilitate that person and put them back on the street as a law-abiding, tax-paying individual, then I think that’s what we need to be doing.”

Within the department, Cassidy said he would prioritize creating a stable working environment for employees and leading by example.

“I’m not going to ask you to do something I myself am not going to do,” Cassidy said.