Name: Johnny D. Hawkins
Age: 58
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: JHawkinsforDurham.com
Occupation and employer: Interim Director of Safety & Security – Trinity School of Durham & Chapel Hill
1. What do you believe are the most important issues facing the Sheriff’s Office? What are your top three priorities in addressing these issues?
1) Stabilize staffing and morale, and Organizational Culture of the Sheriff’s Office; Focus on recruitment, retention, training, and wellness for deputies, detention, and civilian staff members. Conduct listening sessions with staff and create transparent systems of accountability and recognition. This will also include mentorship programs while establishing clear leadership development tracks. Strengthen detention operations and detainee care, with emphasis on mental health screening, classification, safety and security, reduction in contraband by increasing presence and use of technology, re-evaluate work release and programs, increase academic and vocational opportunities for detainees through Durham-Tech and Pathways, while ensuring lawful treatment of detainees and being transparent to stakeholders.
2) Implement Community Focused Safety initiatives with emphasis on Crime Reduction, Prevention, increased presence and community engagement. Enhancing trust and presence in the community, particularly in under-served areas, through engagement, transparency, and partnerships. Conduct listening sessions with the community. Establish a Gun Violence Interruption and Youth Futures Initiative with emphasis on connecting schools, families, services and faith groups. We will implement a co-responder partnership linking deputies with behavioral health clinicians, social workers, peer support specialist, and H.E.A.R.T. to respond to applicable service calls. I will also increase crime mapping and analysis technology to better serve the community.
3) Establish Countywide Collaboration & Systemic Alignment through Strategic Alliances including Durham PD, DA’s Office, County & City Leaders/Officials, Housing Authority, Faith Organizations, University/School Public Safety Leaders/Officials. Develop MOU’s to enhance inter-agency coordination and build data-sharing systems and public forums to ensure transparency and accountability.
2. What in your record as a public official or other experience demonstrates your ability to be an effective county sheriff? This might include career or community service; be specific about its relevance to this office.
Specifically, I bring nearly 38 years of leadership across military service, corrections, detention operations, and community based security as a school safety professional. My work and academic experiences include serving as a Correctional Warden – (Retired), Director of Special Operations and Intelligence, Chief of Detention Services Detention Center Administrator, Interim Director Safety & Security, and Security Management Consultant in both public and private sectors. I have a degree in Criminal Justice and completed multiple state certification and leadership courses. My work with Criminal Gangs and Prisoner Radicalization is nationally recognized as a field subject expert. My experiences include managing large facilities with an employee base of 450 employees and a budget of 54 million dollars, supervising certified and civilian personnel, overseeing high-risk operations which included FBI, US Marshals Task Force, Prison Emergency Response Teams, Special Operation Response Team, Canine Drug Interdiction, Hostage Negotiators, Division of Criminal Investigation Center, Regional Intelligence Team’s, and Extradition Operations. Additionally, I have worked directly with youth, families, faith leaders, business owners, chamber of commerce and schools. I have a blend of operational leadership and community engagement which prepares me to lead the Durham County Sheriff’s Office with improved safety, security, systems and services.
3. If you are challenging an incumbent, what decisions has the incumbent made that you most disagree with? If you are an incumbent, what in your record and experience do you believe entitles you to another term?
As we are aware the incumbent has a tremendous amount of responsibility and likewise authority. Certainly, I would not be seeking to become the Sheriff of Durham County if I felt he was adequately fulfilling his constitutional obligation as a Public Servant and Sheriff. The citizens of Durham are deserving of a Public Servant that will be a protector of the constitution, citizens, community, staff and detainees. The citizens of Durham also are deserving of a Public Servant that will seek to unify with the City/County Leaders/Officials, DA’s Office, Durham PD, University/School Public Safety, First Responders, Emergency Management, Federal/State partners, Faith Community, Business Community, Media and Citizens of Durham City/County.
4. Shootings are down in Durham, but gun violence remains a concern. What needs to be done about gun violence in Durham? What role does the sheriff have in addressing it?
As the Chief Law Enforcement Officer within the county the Sheriff should actively partner with Durham PD to support the safety, enforcement and proactive patrols within the city limits. As Sheriff, I will utilize data driven analysis to identify patterns coupled with targeted enforcement against repeat violent offenders, coordinated with prosecutors and law enforcement partners. This includes probation and warrant operations that are precise and constitutional.I will be proactive and collaborate with federal, state and local partners incorporate youth intervention, mentorship, and conflict mediation programs. Also, increasing public education regarding safe storage and accountability. The initiation of opportunities to reduce firearms related incidents require being proactive. Increasing visibility of deputy patrols and community engagement with neighborhoods and businesses. Community engagement and the need to cultivate intelligence, tips will be achieved by relationships and trust which is an effective tool. We know enforcement alone is insufficient. The need to address the root causes, such as youth disengagement, untreated mental illness, displacement/homelessness, substance abuse, school safety, gang culture and re-entry challenges by working alongside community organizations and service providers.
5. Police officers’ and sheriff’s deputies’ personnel files, including disciplinary records, are not public documents in North Carolina. Given that law enforcement in some cases has the power of life and death, do you believe it is appropriate for members of the public to know whether a law enforcement agent has been disciplined and why?
As Sheriff, I will support NC GS 17A-10(a) which requires tracking officer misconduct. I’m not opposed to community advisory boards that are thoughtfully structured that allows for transparency and accountability. Information that can legally be shared should and will be shared.
6. Over the past two years, the legislature has expanded requirements for local sheriffs to notify ICE about individuals in custody and hold them for up to 48 hours or until ICE takes them into custody. What in your opinion is the impact of this change on communities and Sheriff’s Offices?
As Sheriff, I recognize my oath to enforce the law of our state and our nation. I will follow the statutory requirements of HB-10 and HB-318, including notifying ICE and holding individuals up to 48 hours when all legal conditions are met. However, beyond the 48-hour statutory requirement, I will not render assistance to ICE in immigration enforcement that goes beyond what the law requires. The ability to maintain public trust so that all residents regardless of status feel safe contacting law enforcement when they are victims or witnesses to a crime. The primary mission of the Sheriffs Office remains public safety and community protection not civil immigration enforcement.
7. Criminal justice reform groups like Emancipate NC have raised concerns about conditions at the Durham jail, including that people are being held in cells for 20-plus hours a day. How would you address conditions for people being held in the jail?
As Sheriff, I will ensure a safe, secure, humane and constitutionally sound detention facility by reviewing audits, inspections, use of force reports, activity logs, shift narratives, detainee records, pretrial release data, mental health, chronic care, and medical reports. I will coordinate enhanced psychological health and medical screening during intake and processing to identify the more vulnerable detainees. We will be intentional about expanding access to treatment and partnerships with providers who specialize in behavioral health and substance use disorders. Having a sound classification process is required to ensure violent offenders are housed separate from non-violent offenders. Enhanced educational programs, ABE GED, vocational programs, Detainee Council Meetings, restorative justice programs, re-entry programs, NA/AA programming, medicated assistance treatment, cognitive behavioral intervention training, gang diversion sessions, geriatric housing, military peer housing, peer support modeling. Lastly, in previous assignments with the NC Department of Public Safety I welcomed relationships with NC Cure, Emancipate NC and other advocacy groups which provided opportunities for them to visit the facility, speak with offenders and access to daily operational procedures. Again, transparency should breed performance and accountability.
8. Do you support expansion of the city’s HEART program into county limits? Please explain your answer. If yes, what oversight should the city and Sheriff’s Office each have over these responders?
As Sheriff, I would fully support the H.E.A.R.T. Program expanding into the county, detention center and schools. Ultimately, it would be my goal to expand to a co-responder model throughout the Sheriff’s Office which would include our community, detention center and schools. The ability to eliminate Deputies and Law Enforcement as the sole and primary responder during mental health crisis, substance related emergency calls, and non-violent behavioral health calls will be my goal. Durham has rich programs and services with the ability to aid and support Deputies on site with clinicians, social workers, and peer-support specialists. This engagement for services will be more civil and allows an opportunity to address the needs of the community with the appropriate level of response and resources. The logistics regarding the oversight will require a professional, transparent and fiduciary meeting and agreement.
9. The Durham County Sheriff’s Office has a budget of more than $50 million. Is this sufficient? What would you seek additional funding for? Conversely, as federal funding puts pressure on local government budgets, what Sheriff’s Office expenses could be reduced?
As Sheriff, the following will be my priorities to ensure competitive salaries and incentives to recruit and retain deputies, detention officers and civilian staff; overtime reduction and wellness resources to address burnout and vacancies; urgent repairs and modernization of the aging detention facility to ensure, safety, humane conditions, and compliance with standards; updated heating/ventilation/electrical systems to protect staff and detainees; replace antiquated surveillance cameras and control systems with modern, reliable technology to improve safety and reduce liability; enhanced access control, alarms, and data systems; establish youth diversion/prevention programs to reduce crime and build community trust; implement robust re-entry programs to reduce recidivism (job skills, substance abuse support, education, vocation, and case management); invest in de-escalation training, mental health response, community policing and current law enforcement best practices. Additional funding would be requested to implement the co-responder model and the staffing required to support that mission and service.
10. Give an example of an opinion, policy, vote, or action you changed based on constituent feedback. If you have not yet held elected office, describe a time when you changed your position on an issue after listening to those affected by it.
Throughout my career, I have worked with capable vision and mission driven professionals which required me to shift positions on operational and personnel matters. The implementation of technology has more often lead to changes in my position. I came up in an era where policy was labor intense as well as methodical. Prior to my retirement from NCDPS I was introduced to PowerDMS which forever changed the methodical approach the agency previously utilized for policy development and access. The ability to discuss options and being open minded is a character trait I learned from childhood and it remains with me.
11. Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would like to address?