Sheriff Richard Roundtree said that none of his three challengers have prepared themselves enough to run the large agency that he has led for 12 years.
In an interview last Wednesday, the incumbent took on criticism from two Democratic challengers and a third seeking signatures to run as an independent. He also said Bo Johnson crossed the line in calling the sheriff’s office a “circus” that is “run by clowns.”
“Everybody wants to sit in the big chair,” Roundtree said. “I applaud anyone who puts themselves out there as a candidate. I know how difficult it is to offer yourself up as a candidate.
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“But my thing is, you want to be in the seat for the right reason. When I look at the people who are challenging for this seat here, all I look at is, what have they done to be sheriff? None of them really have any supervisory experience.”
THE INTERVIEW:
Sheriff Roundtree said before he ran for sheriff, he spent eight years preparing to be an effective leader, supervising individuals, working cases, working investigations, attending multiple training classes and going to the FBI National Academy.
“I did all of these things to try to prepare myself so when I sat in the big chair that I would be an effective leader,” he said.
The sheriff is running campaign videos that emphasize safer streets and his belief in a strong community. He says the statistics back up that crime has consistently gone down every year he has been in office.
The one challenge has been gun violence, a nationwide problem.
“No one was found that that magic wand yet to curb this youth gun violence. So we are not immune to that. So that is where a lot of our focus is on,” he said.
But burglaries, armed robberies, rapes, and aggravated assaults have consistently dropped every year under his leadership. “So Augusta is in fact statistically safer than it was 12 years ago when I took office,” he said.
Still, he acknowledges the perception that crime has risen. But he calls people who believe that “uninformed.”
“Shootings and homicides get media attention. So that is all the people see on the television. They don’t see that burglaries are down 50 percent, or rapes are down 80 percent, or car thefts are down 40 percent. They don’t see that because those don’t get reported,” Roundtree said.
“We are safer. If you are not out someplace you shouldn’t be at 2 o’clock in the morning on the street, the chances of you getting hurt, shot or murdered are greatly depleted.”
When he talks to voters about his message, he emphasizes his agency’s push to increase technology, use of tasers and body-worn cameras, and holding corrupt officers accountable.
He also wishes residents would hear more positive stories, such as Deputy Taylor Hayes who was recently given a Commendation Award.
On Feb. 15, Deputy Hayes responded to South-Bound Deans Bridge Road near Morgan Road for a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. Deputy Hayes found a female victim who was agonal breathing and her right leg was severed below the knee.
“Deputy Hayes immediately applied a tourniquet to the victim’s leg and started CPR,” the sheriff’s office said. “Deputy Hayes continued CPR for an extended period after medical personnel arrived on the scene. This action allowed medical personnel to treat other injuries and prepare her for transport to the trauma center.”
Sheriff Roundtree is facing two challengers in the May 21 Democratic primary, Gino Brantley, a sergeant with the Richmond County Marshal’s Office, and Clarence “Bo” Johnson, a former RCSO deputy and former federal air marshal.
Richard Dixon, who ran the state police academy here and in Athens for 17 years, is gathering signatures to get on the Nov. 5 ballot for sheriff as an independent.
At a recent gathering of Republicans, Brantley said he’s seen the RCSO quit responding to calls, and leadership lack “empathy and perspective” for deputies’ sacrifice.
Sheriff Roundtree responded. “First of all, he has no qualification to be sheriff,” he said. “In all of my opponents, none of them tell what they are going to do. They always tell what is wrong with the sheriff’s office. Not one person has said what am I going to do to fix it. What am I going to do that I have not done that I am going to do different, or what are my credentials to be sheriff?”
The sheriff said his agency is not the first law enforcement agency to stop responding to non-verified calls from burglary alarms. He said the decision allows deputies more time to answer more violent crime calls or proactive patrol.
“That is why your violent crime is decreasing,” he said. “Would you rather us respond to your window being broken or a false alarm that happens 99 percent of the time, or do you want us patrolling your streets and catching people who are breaking into your house or shooting up your neighborhoods? We want to focus more on violent crime.”
With broken windows, reports are taken over the phone to allow victims to file an insurance claim, instead of sending a deputy to the house to waste 20 minutes they could be using to patrol.
At the same Republican meeting, Johnson made the comment about the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office being a “circus” that is “run by the clowns.”
Sheriff Roundtree’s response? “I have known Bo many years and I think he crossed the line with that. I have no problem with politics. I have no problem with him wanting to be sheriff… but when you start getting into the personal attacks on me and my people, I think he crossed the line. I think that is showing your true character.”
Dixon told Richmond County Republicans that it is time to get the current administration out.
“I have worked with Richard Dixon, Brantley and Bo,” Roundtree said. “Everybody thinks they can do a better job. You got to tell me what would you do. And you have not seen any meat on the bone. What would you do differently that in the last 12 years that we are not doing or have not tried. And I told them, if you do that, hell, I might vote for you.”
