Name as it appears on the ballot: Donnie Harrison
Campaign website: www.donnieharrison.com
Phone number: 919-772-2431
Email: donnie@donnieharrison.com
Years lived in the county: 51 years
1. How well do you believe the Wake County Sheriff’s Office is currently functioning? What’s going well? What needs improvement? Of those functions that are not working, what measures would you take to improve them?
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office is functioning very well. Since I took office in 2002 we have:
A. Reduced response times by reallocating resources and putting more deputies on the road,
B. Improved jail operations,
C. Improved training for everyone,
D. Opened a new training center,
E. Improved employee salaries,
F. Implemented 287(g) program,
G. Created Special Response Tactical Team,
H. Established Senior Well-check program,
I. Created Project Lifesaver- program to locate people dementia, Alzheimer’s, Autism, etc.
J. Adventure Camp for rising 8th graders
And much more.
I am very proud of all our members and the hard work they put forth every day. We are constantly reviewing our performance and looking for ways to improve. We are currently seeking funding and grants for technology that will enable us to keep up with the rapid developments and improvements in technology including body worn cameras for our deputies and detention officers.
2. What do you believe are the most important issues currently facing the Sheriff’s Office? What are your top three priorities in addressing these issues?
The most important issues currently facing the Wake County Sheriff’s Office are school safety, the opioid and drug crisis, and mental health.
A. School safety- good communication between us and the school board, teachers, principals and local law enforcement partners
B. We send our SRO’s to gang training to educate parents, teachers and students to recognize there are gangs or gang signs in our schools.
C. Opioids and drugs
- Seek funding to support our efforts to combat drugs.
- Continue to issue Narcan to our deputies.
- Work and communicate with all law enforcement agencies to fight the war on drugs.
D. Mental Health
- Continue the CIT program for deputies and detention officers.
- We implemented a liaison between our jail and Wake County Human Services.
- Continue to dedicate a housing area to provide mental health services to those in the jail that need assistance.services.
3. Public services across our state are facing difficult budget choices. If needed, what expenditures by the Sheriff’s Office or jail could be reduced?
We have cut back and re-organized to the point that if we cut back anymore it will mean we will have to cut personnel.
4. What have been your most notable contributions to the law enforcement agencies for which you have worked? Please be specific.
(A) Gave each agency honest, hard work.
(B) Was always willing to work.
(C) Able to work with everyone or any agency.
5. With regard to the department’s work as a police force for the county, what changes will be needed over the next four years to serve and protect the fast-growing Wake County population?
We will continue our efforts to recruit and keep the best applicants to serve as deputies and detention officers. We are committed to developing the best leaders within our agency to mentor younger officers, who are the future of our agency. It will be necessary for us to constantly upgrade our technology to keep up with the rapid changes, so we will be able to meet the needs and challenges that Wake County experiences from the fast-paced growth.
6. Is the department doing enough about narcotics in the county? Too much? Are the resources used to curb drug use and overdose well-spent, or could some of the time and money devoted to anti-drug efforts be better spent some other way?
I don’t know that you could ever say we are doing enough about drugs, especially when you look at the volume we are seizing and accept the fact that we are only getting a small percentage of what is coming in. The resources we are spending are well spent, and I intend to aggressively continue the fight. This year alone, our drug unit has already seized drugs having a street value of $136,933,782.00, as well as U.S. currency in the amount of $2,544,221.21. I am supportive of programs designed to curb drug use and the overdose crisis we are seeing from the opioid epidemic. Additionally, we are co-founders of the Wake County Drug Overdose Coalition in cooperation with Wake County Health and Human Services.
7. How well do you believe the Sheriff’s Office currently is working to reduce gang participation and crime in Wake County? What can the department do in addition to reduce this problem?
Like our efforts to combat drugs, our efforts to reduce gang participation and crime is limited by our resources. Through our on-going relationships with other law enforcement agencies and the use of technology, I believe that we are making a difference in gang participation and crime in Wake County. My open-door policy has enabled individuals to come forward with valuable information that supports our efforts to reduce gang participation and crime.
8. Hispanic and Latino residents represent a growing part of Wake County’s population. What efforts has the Sheriff’s Office made to serve these residents’ specific needs? What should the department do to improve those services?
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office strives to serve all residents special needs. In addition to maintaining open communication with all citizens, I frequently attend functions in the Hispanic and Latino community to foster a good relationship. Our recruiting staff has been very diligent in their efforts to recruit bilingual deputies and detention officers, and we offer a compensation incentive to our bilingual employees.
9. The Wake County Sheriff’s Office is one of several departments actively enforcing immigration law under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. For the incumbent sheriff: Why do you support local enforcement of this federal law? How has enforcing this law benefited Wake County? If re-elected, would you continue the department’s efforts under this act or change the way this is enforced, and why? For the challenger: Do you support local enforcement of Section 287(g)? Why or why not? If elected, how would you direct the agency to approach 287(g)?
There is a lot of misunderstanding of the 287g program. The 287g program does not send officers out into the community to identify and apprehend individuals, the 287g program is a partnership with federal authorities that screens individuals AFTER they have been arrested for a crime and committed to the jail by a judicial official. Federal proceedings are initiated only after a thorough investigation is completed by the federal authorities. I will continue our efforts under this act because 287g is a valuable tool that has identified some very dangerous individuals. Ultimately, the 287g program has helped to make the Hispanic and Latino communities safer by removing individuals that might otherwise victimize innocent people.
10. In 2014, a civil rights lawsuit alleged that Wake County school resource officers targeted black students, and last year the program was placed under renewed scrutiny when a video surfaced of a Wake SRO picking up a student and dropping her on the ground. Do you believe the SRO program is effective? Why or why not? If not, what alternative do you propose?
The school resource officer program has some very good components, and is effective in many ways. The SRO program provides an opportunity for children to see law enforcement officers as a positive role model. However, the way the SRO program is currently being run in Wake County has problems. In addition to the Sheriff’s Office, there are 10 other law enforcement agencies that provide SRO’s to Wake County Public Schools; each one with its own set of policies and rules. The Sheriff’s Office and other agencies have had problems getting crimes reported to us by some school personnel, which has hindered investigations. The County would be far better served if WCPSS had its own police department, like they have in some parts of NC. That would allow for continuity and less confusion. In the meantime, I am committed to making sure that all our schools are safe for students, teachers and staff. I will continue my efforts to maintain open communication with Wake County Public Schools, and advocate for more security systems and video cameras on our school properties.
11. Do you believe the population of the Wake County jail should be reduced? Why or why not? If you think it should be reduced, what steps would you support to accomplish that goal?
Yes, the jail population should be reduced. We currently house many pretrial detainees that are being held on very minor offenses, and they pose little risk to the community. We should work together with the court system and develop comprehensive bail reform and pre-trial release programs for low risk inmates.
12. Under what circumstances do you believe a person should be detained pretrial? What changes to the cash bail system, if any, do you support? Why? If you don't support any changes, please explain why you think the current system is successful.
NC General Statute 15A-534 establishes that individuals that are charged with a crime should only be detained if they pose a risk of flight, are a danger to the community or others, or if they have a history or likelihood of failing to appear in court. I support changes to the current cash bail system. I support the development of a system that utilizes risk-assessment tools and other criteria to reduce the number of people being incarcerated simply because they can’t afford to make bail. This initiative is underway in other parts of the country and there has been some concern that the use of risk-assessment tools leaves too much discretion in the hands of the judicial officials setting the conditions of release. We need to closely monitor these programs and learn from their problems. We are currently working with NC State University to create a program designed to assess all incoming pretrial detainees and identify those that are appropriate to release without having to post a monetary bond.
