Jeff Johnson, Candidate for Dawson Co. Sheriff

News, Politics

To provide voters the information they need to make an informed choice in the May 24 General Primary election, Fetch Your News will work hard to present a profile of each candidate running for public office. All candidates will be contacted and offered an opportunity to respond to questions. 

 

DAWSONVILE, Ga. — Jeff Johnson says if voters do a thorough job of researching each candidate’s credentials and will vote for experience, he will be elected Dawson County Sheriff next month.
While all four candidates have a tremendous amount of experience, Johnson says he has the most extensive experience in all facets of law enforcement.

“I’m not disparaging any candidate, but one of my opponents spent most of his career as a school resource officer, another on patrol and another in the detention prison system. I have the most expansive background of any candidate,” he said.

“I have supervised and commanded in detention, patrol, investigations, specialized assignments, government housing, internal affairs, courts, training, and administration,” he said

Johnson also served as a law enforcement instructor, teaching at the local, regional and state levels and he has over 3,000 hours of specialized law enforcement training.

Looking at today’s Sheriff’s Office, Johnson says its people are its strength. “We have many fine quality people working in the Sheriff’s Office. Our problem is retention. Our best officers are going to higher paying law enforcement jobs or into the private sector. To keep the good ones, we may need to look at increasing their pay.”

Johnson understands that it’s tax payers who foot the bill for pay increases.

But, he says, it is possible that salary increases could be funded by restructuring and reorganizing the sheriff’s office.

If not, he said he would have a frank discussion with citizens to determine the level of law enforcement they want. “If we need to increase the budget to provide that level of service then we need to look at that. But the community has to have a say in it.”

If he is elected, Johnson said his number one priority will be to increase public safety. “I’m a community driven type person,” he said. “We can increase public safety through good old community policing. I will rebuild our relationship with with the community.”

Johnson recognizes that Dawson County is in for a major growth spurt and that means more problems for law enforcement.

“Increased retail is certainly headed this way soon,” he said. “I’m also hearing the buzz about building more low-income housing in the county to support the retail base. That means we will likely see an increase in theft and other crimes as well as traffic issues We will need to work in partnership with the business community. But we’ll be ready.”

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