Miss America joins Keller in crime fight

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sheriff Jerry Keller today teamed with newly crowned Miss America Erika Harold to tout programs aimed at stopping youth violence.

Keller throughout his career has advocated programs for youth aimed at preventing crimes from happening, although critics have said his longtime interest in more before- and after-school programs is a "soft" approach to crime fighting.

"If that's the case, I'm guilty," Clark County's top cop said today after his appearance with Harold at the National Press Club. "We've got 2,250 police officers, but no matter how many pairs of handcuffs we use, we can't arrest our way out of this problem."

The outgoing sheriff met up with Miss America 2003 today specifically to help her launch her yearlong campaign for more youth violence prevention measures, including more affordable child care and more programs that keep teens out of trouble when they aren't in school.

Harold was ruthlessly bullied in ninth grade, the victim of sexual and racial harassment, she said. She shares vivid stories of tormentors vandalizing her house. In Atlantic City last month the former Miss Illinois pledged to fight for measures that would decrease the number of children who turn to violence.

Now she vows to take her cause to Congress and school districts nationwide, where she plans to urge teachers and administrators to take bullying seriously.

"There are kids who sit in classrooms every day who are made to feel inferior," said Harold, a 22-year-old aspiring politician who put off Harvard University for the pageant.

Harold is teaming with a group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, of which Keller is a leader and spokesman. The group flew Keller from another conference he was attending in Minneapolis to Washington to help Harold kick off her crusade.

Keller was not doing any lobbying this trip, but said his Fight Crime group is urging Congress to approve more money for a federal program designed to offer 15 million children affordable child care. The program only pays for 2 million children. The group is asking for another half-million children to be added this year.

"We're asking Congress -- before you go home -- to find a way to fund an additional 500,000 kids into these programs," Keller said.

Keller said his brief trip to Washington was solely to appear with Miss America for the youth violence event and said he was not interviewing for a job here.

"I'm a Las Vegas kid," Keller said.