DeKalb GA Sheriff Candidates 2014

DeKalb’s ballot will include 6 candidates. If you don’t do some homework, you won’t know who to vote for.  So, here is a start.  Norb Leahy

(Crossroads News) Former DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones and five others are already in line to succeed DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown.

Four of the five men and a woman – DeKalb Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Jeffrey Mann, retired DeKalb Sheriff’s Deputy Dale Bernard Collins, DeKalb Police Sgt. Romaldo Tony Hughes, Atlanta Police Sgt. Melvin Mitchell, and former Georgia Piedmont Technical College Assistant Police Chief Melody Maddox – have filed paperwork to seek the office that Brown will vacate in March when he qualifies for the 4th Congressional District race.

After months of rumors about a possible run, Jones confirmed Dec. 24 that he will seek the office of Sheriff.

In an email answering queries, Jones said he an announcement will be made after the beginning of the year.

“I’m certainly encouraged by the request from citizens as well as the law enforcement community that that I considers a run for Sheriff of DeKalb County,” he said. “I know DeKalb and DeKalb knows me. Having been the county’s chief executive officer and top administrator, I have the experience in managing DeKalb’s largest police department. So becoming DeKalb’s Sheriff is a natural fit.”

Brown, who has been sheriff for 12 years and ran unopposed twice, announced his candidacy in October for the Fourth District seat held by Hank Johnson.

When he qualifies for the race, he will have to resign. Because there are more than two years left on his four-year term, a special election will be held for a sheriff to finish his term.

The special election is expected to be held May 20 alongside the Democratic and Republican primaries.

Jones, who was DeKalb’s CEO from 2001 to 2008, is a former state representative.

Since leaving county government, he has made unsuccessful runs for the US Senate and House of Representative.

He said that Tuesday that crime has become a major issue in the county.

“The rise of home invasions, the safety of seniors and the welfare of children are issues that must be addressed,” he said. “Citizens know if there is a crack house in their neighborhood, calling 911 may put them on hold. But calling Sheriff Vernon Jones will get it “shut down.”

In March when Brown qualifies for the congressional race, Mann will become interim sheriff until the special election is held.

He is a former assistant County Attorney. He joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2001 when Brown hired him as his director of labor relations and legal affairs. In 2004, Brown appointed him his chief deputy, which is the second in command.

Mann said Monday that he will run for sheriff because he has been in the office for 12 years, helped improve morale and credibility, and helped it earn Triple Crown accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare.

He said less than 40 of the nation’s 3,000 sheriff offices nationwide have all three accreditations.

“I like the work we have done here,” Mann said. “I like the fiscal restraint we have exercised and the professionalism that we have returned to the office. We have done a good job. I have done a good job and I am prepared to continue doing a good job here.”

Over the past nine years, he said the Sheriff’s Office has returned a total of $4 million to the county’s treasury.

‘I think I can stabilize the jail’

Collins, who is assistant training coordinator at MARTA, retired from the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office in 2010 after 28 years. During his time with the office, he says he worked in all areas of the jail.

“I trained 75 percent of the sheriff deputies there,” he said.

Collins, who lives in Conley, said he also supervised the DeKalb County Courthouse for 14 years.

He says he is seeking the office because he can do a great job.

“I think I can stabilize the jail,” he said. “I am not saying that present leadership is not doing a good job, but I talk to people and the camaraderie is not what it used to. There is a disconnection with their superiors. I stand for fairness and doing the right job.”

Varied law enforcement career

Hughes, who has more than 18 years of law enforcement experience, is a former DeKalb Sheriff’s detention officer. He says he is running to make the Sheriff’s Office more efficient and effective.

He began his career in November 1993 as a detention officer with the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office and move to the DeKalb Police Department in June 1994 where he has worked as a detective and shift supervisor. Hughes also has supervised the Homeland Security Division’s Gang Unit and worked in the Office of the Police Chief in the Police Accreditation Unit.

Hughes, a lifelong DeKalb resident, lives in Stone Mountain. He is the former owner/operator of the Wesley Chapel Road Chick-fil-A restaurant.

‘A very aggressive crime fighter’

Mitchell, a 30-year Atlanta Police officer, originally filed his declaration to run for sheriff in 2016 before Brown announced that he would challenge Johnson in 2014.

“I thought he was going to be sheriff until 2016,” he said. “But I will definitely move forward full-speed ahead next year.”

Mitchell retired from the Atlanta Police Department in 2010 and returned on a contract to be an aide to Chief George Turner.

He says he is a visionary leader and will be good for the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office.

“I consider myself a person of integrity that could bring new ideas to the office,” said Mitchell, who lives in Lithonia. “I am a very aggressive crime fighter and I will pursue every person that is wanted, especially violent offenders, and bring them back to face charges.”

2nd woman to seek office

Maddox, a 16-year law enforcement officer, said she quit her position GPTC in November to run for sheriff.

“I want to be the change that the county needs,” she said Monday. “DeKalb is in the news for negative things because the leaders haven’t worked together for positive change.”

She says she wants to work with other law enforcement departments, including school resource officers, the marshal’s department and the police department, to help stop the division of the county into cities.

Maddox lives in Decatur. She is only the second woman to seek the office. If she is elected, she would be the county’s first female sheriff and only one of three in the state.

Source: http://crossroadsnews.com/news/2013/dec/27/six-already-line-run-dekalb-sheriff/?page=2