The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reached out to each of the eight candidates for DeKalb County sheriff and asked them to answer, in about 50 words, why they are running for the office. Their answers, edited for space and grammar, are below.
Dale Bernard Collins, retired DeKalb County sheriff’s deputy.
“I am running because I possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to lead the Sheriff’s Office in a better direction. I am the only candidate with 26 years experience gained working in every division of the Sheriff’s Office as a leader, manager and trainer. I have a heart for the people. I’m committed to doing what’s right, and it is my time.”
Ted Golden, retired U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration special agent.
“Until retiring in February, I was a federal agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and (had) a 34-year career in local and federal law enforcement. I’m seeking the office of DeKalb County sheriff to lead the county and sheriff’s department to stronger partnerships with local law enforcement agencies as well as to substantially improve county wide public safety and the safety of students at EVERY DeKalb County Public School.”
R. Tony Hughes, DeKalb County Police sergeant
“I am running for DeKalb County Sheriff to lead the change we need to restore our pride in DeKalb. If elected sheriff, I will support better trained officers, more collaboration with other police entities to provide safer schools and communities, and more youth engagement through mentorship and educational opportunities.”
Vernon Jones, former DeKalb County CEO.
“The next sheriff should have considerable experience managing people, securing resources, and the ability to advance the department. I have that experience. I have a record of improving the quality of life in DeKalb. As sheriff, I will work tirelessly to restore peace of mind to the people of DeKalb.”
Melody Maddox, former Georgia Piedmont Technical College assistant police chief.
“I am running because I believe that, when we focus on education not incarceration, schools and not jails, we will build a better society. My educational, administrative and street experience as a law enforcement officer will be pivotal in leading the way. Vote for a leader with the highest level of integrity.”
Jeff Mann, DeKalb County sheriff and former deputy chief.
“I have worked with the great men and women of this agency for the past 13 years. Together, we have restored the integrity and respect to the Sheriff’s Office, as evidenced by our Triple Crown Accreditation, placing us in the top 1 percent of all Sheriff’s Offices in the nation. I want to continue to serve as sheriff to ensure that the great work we have done is not compromised, but built upon.”
Melvin Mitchell, Atlanta Police sergeant.
“I believe the Sheriff’s Office is, first and foremost, a law enforcement job, and my 31 years of experience as an officer makes me the best choice to make DeKalb safer. I am disgusted by the 17,000 outstanding warrants that are piled up in the Sheriff’s Office, and the significant public safety risk that poses to our neighbors. Reducing these warrants will be my number one priority.”
LaSalle Smith, retired Atlanta police officer, GBI and FBI agent.
I’m running “to restore public service to government; to bridge the communication gap between the Sheriff’s Office and police agencies in DeKalb County, collaborating with them to establish effective and efficient protection of its citizens, businesses, schools, communities/neighborhoods, thereby making DeKalb County the safest place in the nation to live.”
DeKalb County voters will pick a new sheriff for the first time in a decade next week.
Thomas Brown retired from the office he has held since 2001 in February to challenge U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson for his Congressional seat. Former Chief Deputy Jeff Mann was appointed to serve until the election.
Mann is running for the office and will face seven other candidates: Vernon Jones, the county’s first African-American CEO; retired DeKalb deputy Dale Bernard Collins; retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent Ted Golden; DeKalb Police Sgt R. Tony Hughes ; former Georgia Piedmont Technical College Assistant Police Chief Melody Maddox; Atlanta Police Sgt. Melvin Mitchell and retired Atlanta Police officer LaSalle Smith.
A runoff is expected in July for the post, which pays $114,000 a year. But already the race has drawn interest because the sheriff’s office, once notorious for corruption, has been controversy-free.
By contrast, later this year suspended CEO Burrell Ellis will face trial on 14 felony charges for allegedly shaking down county vendors for campaign contributions. And a federal corruption case in South Carolina is expected to ensnare a so-far unnamed county commissioner.
“It just seems like in one office or another in DeKalb County, there is corruption,” said Steve Anthony, a former director of the Georgia Democratic Party who now teaches politics at Georgia State University. “The sheriff’s office took it to a whole other level, though, with murder.”
In 2000, DeKalb voters elected Derwin Brown to be sheriff, largely on his pledge to clean up corruption and kickbacks that had troubled the office for decades.
Brown, who is not related to the retired sheriff, was gunned down in his front yard just three days before he was to take office. The defeated incumbent, Sheriff Sidney Dorsey, was convicted of ordering Brown’s assassination, a hit he later confessed to ordering to stop a probe into his behavior as sheriff.
Corruption investigations, indictments and convictions ended the careers of three of Dorsey’s predecessors. Lamar Martin was convicted of taking bribes in 1972. Ray Bonner was indicted on mail fraud charges. Those charges were dropped, but Bonner lost the 1976 election to Pat Jarvis, a former Atlanta Braves pitcher.
In 1999, four years after he left office, Jarvis pleaded guilty to taking part in a kickback scheme to get cash from food vendors, bonding companies and maintenance firms that had contracts with the county jail while he was sheriff.
On Tom Brown’s first day as interim sheriff, he fired four deputies, including two later linked to Derwin Brown’s murder. He overhauled the entire office administration and gradually improved care at the county jail, which had been fined for poor medical care that led to two inmates’ deaths.
In recent years, Brown was known mostly for working with other county law enforcement agencies on safety issues and collaborating with community groups to offer mental health and substance abuse treatment to county jail inmates.
In a reflection of that work, the campaign to replace Brown has largely focused on building on his work. None of the candidates has mentioned the office’s troubled history in public forums.
Candidates instead talked up the Constitutional duties to protect the courthouse, run the jail and serve warrants across the county.
Reforms have eliminated some of the fee-based duties that were ripe for corruption and ridicule, said Wilbur Miller, a historian at Stony Brook University who specializes in law enforcement.
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