Richmond County Sheriff Candidate Forum held as early voting is underway
AUGUSTA, Ga (WJBF) – Early Voting is underway in Richmond County for the May 21st General Primary Election. One race on the ballot is for Sheriff. Friday night, the Democratic Candidates running for the seat spoke at a candidate forum.
The forum covered several key issues, including the department’s response to alarm systems and department transparency.
“I think some great questions were asked, and I think we got some great feedback and ideas. To where we may want to go vote and how we want to vote now,” said Veronica Bogans, Sandhill Neighborhood Association.
Violence with teens in the community has been a big issue recently. Sherriff Roundtree spoke at the forum about how this has to do with gang violence.
“We got a dedicated gang unit,” said Richard Roundtree, Richmond County Sheriff. “That is their primary program to focus to focus on gangs. Unfortunately, what we have seen is they’re getting recruited younger and younger, as you’ve seen in the past week. But like I told people, this is a community issue. Parents got to get involved, churches got to get involved, and the government got to get involved. This can’t just be a law enforcement problem. We fight together.”
MORE: Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff candidates respond to youth violence
Most candidates had a similar view on how to approach the violence in the community and where they think the current department lacks.
“Community-oriented policing puts the officers back in the street,” Eugene Brantley said, running for Sheriff. “And it allows them to have interactions meaningful interactions with the youth that cause these crimes. And I think it’s, like I said, very imperative that we get back to community-oriented law enforcement. Because that can help stop a lot of the senseless violence that is in these neighborhoods because gangs start in the community.”
“You need to fight fire with fire,” said Bo Johnson, running for Sherriff. “So, you need a gang task force. And right now, the Sheriff’s Department does not have the manpower for that. You know we are already cutting corners everywhere. You know we don’t have a traffic division. So, surely, we are not going to be able to start up a gang division right now. Once we can get the manpower up, we can attack these people where they, right where they stand.”
Early Voting lasts until May 17th, with election day on May 21st.
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