LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH TRAY PAYNE, CANDIDATE FOR LUBBOCK MAYOR BELOW.

Lubbock attorney Tray Payne has officially kicked off his campaign for Mayor of Lubbock. Word of Payne's campaign first came out in August of 2021, but with the start of the new year came campaign season.

Payne joined The Chad Hasty Show with Matt Martin on Friday's show to discuss his campaign and reason he decided to run. Payne was born and raised in Garza County and graduated from Texas Tech University in . He earned his J.D. from Oklahoma City University in 2000.

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During his legal career Payne has been admitted to the bar in the State of Texas and the U.S. federal Northern District of Texas. He's also worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Lubbock County and as a special assistant for the Department of Justice. In 2009, Payne was a founding partner of the Payne, Powell & Truitt Law Group. Payne is also a small business owner and broker.

Payne discussed crime in Lubbock as one of if not the biggest issue in the campaign. Payne told KFYO that when it comes to security, whether it's nationally or locally, he believes in "peace through strength".

I believe in ultimate peace comes through strength. I think that's a tenant of my foundational belief. You've got to be strong whether it's militarily for our country or if it's for our police department.

What does that mean for the Lubbock Police Department? Payne says it means that the Lubbock Police Department needs to get back to active policing.

We have to get back to active policing. We just can't be the police force that just takes calls. A call comes in and dispatch calls it in and you take it. Let's start with dispatch. We have people working overtime, we have dispatch that are certified, dispatch that aren't certified. We have a shortage, we have people who don't want to go into that area. We have to look at that as our first line of defense just in the dispatch area.

Payne also discussed needing more officers, but he believes that Lubbock should go out and hire the best and not just try to fill out numbers. He also wants those officers to be active.

We want officers that are going out and actively police and say alright I'm not just going to take this call, but if I'm not taking a call I'm going to go over here and check out this dope house. I'm going to sit on this dope house and see what's going on. I'm going to stop this homeless person and see what is really going on. I'm going to give tickets out and traffic citations.

Payne talked about how if the police will up their interactions with citizens, it could lead to a reduction of crime.

Listen to the full interview above with Tray Payne.

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