Virginia Beach will elect a sheriff to serve through the end of 2025. Rocky Holcomb is a longtime member of the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office who took over leadership of the department last year when Sheriff Ken Stolle stepped down. He is being challenged in the sheriff’s race by Aldo DiBelardino, an engineer and owner of a business that manufactures and sells portable fire escape ladders he invented more than 25 years ago.
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Aldo DiBelardino
Age: 55
Occupation/job title: Owner of X-IT Products
Highest level of education: Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Virginia, graduate student at Harvard Business School
Party Affiliation: Independent
Military Service: 1 year, Navy midshipmen at University of Virginia, honorable discharge
Website: PeaceMakerSHERIFF.org
What would be your top priority if elected?
Restore accountability by ensuring public oversight of the grand jury process.
What’s an issue that you believe the Virginia Beach sheriff’s office needs to contend with, and how would you tackle it?
They are not upholding their oaths to protect all residents’ constitutional rights, and the way our jail and courts are operating is making crime worse in our community.
Why do you want to be Virginia Beach sheriff?
Souls are not slaves. Our justice system tried to enslave me and I am standing against it.
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Rocky Holcomb
Age: 56
Occupation/job title: Virginia Beach Sheriff
Highest level of education: Bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and management from Regent University
Party Affiliation: Republican
Previous elected offices: State delegate for the 85th District of Virginia, Virginia Beach District 1 City Councilman
Military Service: United States Marine Corps (Semper Fi), 0311 Infantryman, Honorable Discharge
Website: rockyholcombvbsheriff.com
What would be your top priority if elected?
If elected, my top priority would be to continue the groundbreaking work that the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office is doing to make a difference in the treatment of people who suffer from mental illness in our jail. We have many offenders who need treatment, not incarceration. Unfortunately, jails in Virginia have become the defacto treatment facilities for offenders suffering from mental illness. Virginia’s mental health facilities are maxed out, and the overflow too often ends up incarcerated. We have made huge strides to help people before, during and after incarceration, and will continue doing everything we can to address this problem. I hope to earn the confidence and support of the voters to allow me to continue to address this critical public safety issue.
What’s an issue that you believe the Virginia Beach sheriff’s office needs to contend with, and how would you tackle it?
There are several critical issues, including addressing our community’s mental health crisis. Over 60% of Virginia Beach inmates suffer from mental illness. We constantly update our training to help our deputies work better with this population, and we work with community partners to find innovative solutions to this issue. Our partnership with the VB Department of Human Services has been tremendously successful, and we are always looking for new resources to expand our programs. Another issue is ensuring that Sheriff’s Office employees receive top-notch pay, training, equipment and technology to help them excel, work smarter and deliver the level of service citizens deserve. Every day we work to demonstrate our value as a community partner, which will continue if I’m elected.
Why do you want to be Virginia Beach sheriff?
Serving this community as Sheriff has been the highest honor of my life. I have proudly worn a VBSO star since 1991, and I’m an expect in our operations. We run the largest city jail in Virginia, maintain the security of the Virginia Beach courts and deliver court orders, including evictions and subpoenas. Our deputies are sworn law enforcement officers who can make arrests and prosecute crimes, and we stand with our public safety partners to keep Virginia Beach the safest city of its size. Public safety requires community support, which is why I have expanded our community engagement efforts with events like my Turkey Bowl to support VB Schools’ Beach Bags program. I hope I have earned the voters’ trust and confidence to continue serving them as “The People’s Sheriff”.
