Sheriff's Candidates Debate Drugs, Crime, Training at Forum

CANTON, GA -- A packed house turned out Monday evening to hear the four candidates of the most high profile election in Cherokee County politics debate the issues of the day.

The race for Cherokee County sheriff was on the minds of more than 100 people who attended a forum hosted April 18 by the Cherokee County Republican Women organization.

The four candidates -- Jeff Donley, Chip McCarthy, Frank Reynolds and David Waters -- are all running in the May 24 Republican primary to succeed Roger Garrison.

Each candidate gave his take on questions peppered by moderator Janet Read, the former Cherokee County School Board chair, and the audience.

Patch has condensed the questions and has provided an overview to each candidate's answers.

As the population increase, so does the demand for services and increase in crime. What are your specific plans to keep crime rates low in Cherokee County?

Waters told the crowd he wants to go "back to the roots" of community policing and implement more neighborhood watch programs. He also called for crime prevention by educating residents on how they can thwart their chances of becoming targets.

Reynolds, who praised the men and women of the Cherokee Sheriff's Office, said it's imperative the county focuses on promoting training among public safety employees. He also called for exploring ways to reduce the burden on current deputies, as the agency is currently understaffed and overworked.

“The crime problem is coming this way, folks," McCarthy stated. He called for more police visibility, improving ways for tracking career criminals and tackling the drug problem, as it's a major part of crimes committed within county borders.

While education and neighborhood watch programs are "good," Donley stated those approaches aren't getting the message across to those who seek to do harm. The Cherokee Sheriff's Office needs to create an atmosphere that informs criminals that this isn't the place to do their misdeeds. He also said deputies, judges and prosecutors need to come together and work from the same playbook when it comes to tackling the problem.

Do you support programs to help reduce drug use and incarceration?

What the United States currently has is an addiction problem, Reynolds told the audience. While heroin is on the forefront, there's also the issue of a person suffering a back injury and becoming addicted to pain medication. With that in mind, Reynolds called for treating residents suffering from addiction with mental health and drug accountability courts.

McCarthy, who said recreational drug use often starts in a person's home medicine cabinet, said the problem has to address addiction. For example, now that we are cracking down on prescription drug abuse, some residents have turned to heroin as it's much cheaper to come by. However, what do professionals use to help treat heroin addicts? Methadone, a drug McCarthy said residents can easily become hooked on. So, the approach to addressing drug addiction should not just fall on the backs of the sheriff's office, but should be a community-wide effort, McCarthy said.

Donley said he believes long-term, consistent efforts are the trick. He also called for accountability programs to hold residents' feet to the fire as well as re-establishing the D.A.R.E. program into public schools. With 35 years in law enforcement, Waters called the heroin epidemic the "worst" he's ever seen. He noted he routinely receives phone calls from families of victims who've lost their battles with drug addiction.

"It's not an easy fix," he said, noting that everyone of us are "addicts in some form."

If elected, will you be cleaning house?

All four candidates praised the deputies and other employees of the Cherokee Sheriff's Office, and said they did not have any plans to implement any considerable employment changes.

Do you have secrets about your career that you haven't addressed publicly?

Waters said he's "never been dishonest," and addressed a website that claims he did not assist with the freedom marches led by the late Hosea Williams in Forsyth County and did not help dismantle a hostage situation at South Forsyth High School. Waters said he "most certainly" did help in those two events. He also said he was suspended once for wrecking a patrol vehicle.

Reynolds said he was also suspended once for taking part in a police pursuit not in his jurisdiction. McCarthy said he's never been suspended, demoted or terminated from any positions. Donley said he's been suspended "a few times" throughout his career. When you spend a long time at an agency, "you're going to hit bumps," he said.

"You're going to hit potholes that will derail your career a little bit," he said, adding he's not a "yes man" and while he tries to do the right thing, those actions can have consequences.

Should county marshals have arrest powers?

McCarthy, Reynolds and Donley said they believed marshals should have arrest powers, a proposal that was put forth as a bill during the 2016 legislative session, but died in the General Assembly before the session ended. Waters, who said marshals already have firearms to defend themselves, said he believes the issue should be decided by citizens via a referendum. He also wondered how much money the change would cost taxpayers.

How valuable you feel constant training and certifications are? How many hours of training do you have?

Waters, who said training is "very valuable," noted he doesn't know the exact number of his cumulative training hours, but estimated it to be between 2,200 and 2,300. Consistent training is what makes the sheriff's office what it is, Reynolds added. He noted most of the deputies with the agency received between 100 and 150 hours of training each year "to better serve you." The candidate said he probably has around 4,400 training hours.

McCarthy said training is important, but it's nothing more than a piece of paper certifying a class one has completed. What truly matters, he said, is the management and supervision experience one gains while on the job. He concluded his response by saying he has over 4,000 hours in training.

Donley said while it's great to have a piece of paper, if one can't soak in the information to help others, then it's not "helping anybody at all."