Name as it appears on the ballot: George Boykin
Campaign website: GEORGEBOYKINFORDCS@Facebook
Phone number: 919-519-4158
Email: ghboykinstaugedu@gmail.com
Years lived in the county: 14 years
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?
(a) (1) The numerous problems within the County Jail, (2) Domestic Violence and Sexual Assuaults (3) and I believe the residents don’t have respect and trust in their local law enforcement agency”s. Not necessarily in this order.
My top three priorities in addressing these issues are as follows:
(a) In reference to the County Jail, we will conduct a complete an audit of the Operational Assessment issued by the National Institute of Corrections in May 2016 and review and evaluate the changes that have been made to ensure they are operating properly, review why any of the recommendations have not been addressed and work on implementing those as quickly as possible with respect to safety of all within the facility.
(a) During my time as Chief of Police within the University, we followed guidelines from President Obama’s Administration and the Department of Education in reference to sexual assault and domestic violence. We learned that these crimes are vastly under reported and cause severe physical and mental health problems that can have long lasting affects. I would like to work with all stakeholders who are battling these crimes and be sure the Sheriffs’ Office are serving the Orders associated with these complaints in a timely manner and follow up with victims who have filed complaints to help ensure their safety and give them a since of security.
(a) In reference to earning the trust and respect of the county residents, as Sheriff, I will make it a priority of fellowshiping with the community in their neighborhoods, schools, playgrounds and churches in a way that family, friends and neighbors do. We will make it known by showing our community that there are no lines that separate us. We will bring to our residents the law enforcement agency that shows them that we are them and that we will enforce the laws of the county in a compassionate way.
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.
(a) I have over 23 years in law enforcement which includes state adult and juvenile corrections in New Jersey, state adult corrections in North Carolina, six years as Chief of Police at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh and the last two years as a Police Officer in a hospital setting at WakeMed Police and Public Safety Department. My experience in these areas, including dealing with the mentally ill, voluntary and involuntary commitments and transports of these patients provides me a vast amount of knowledge to lead the Sheriff’s Office.
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 merits to another term?
(a) N/A
4. On any given day, many residents of the Durham jail are there not because they’ve been convicted of a crime but because they cannot afford their bail. 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.
(a) Request to work with the District Attorney’s Office in an effort to reduce or eliminate bail for certain misdemeanor non violent inmates. I believe it cost over $100 per day to house a person in the county jail and the average person stays in jail for about 19 days, this cost the tax payers over $2000 per person because they can’t afford bail/bond, it cost arrestees their jobs and money lost to provide for their families and these monies saved could be used in other areas.
5. One intended purpose of the cash-bail system is to ensure potentially dangerous people aren’t free to commit new crimes while awaiting trial. Do you think the county would be less safe with non-monetary pretrial-release conditions only?
(a) Yes I do. In my opinion, non-monetary bail should not be used for potentially violent and dangerous people. Residents and or witnesses to the crimes committed by these persons safety would be at risk.
6. What do you believe to be the role of incarceration in our community?
(a) I believe the role of incarceration in our community should be focused on rehabilitation. In my opinion if incarceration is only focused on punishment of ones crimes, they are almost certain to repeat those crimes and or worst ones.
7. Twelve people in the custody of the Durham jail have died since 2000. In what ways, if any, do you believe conditions at the jail need to improve? What steps would you take to ensure those improvements?
(a) There were memo’s, reports and other written communications of the suicide risk hazards within the Durham County Jail over those years. Those communications addressed window bars, vent grates, mental health screenings and warnings of possible suicide attempts by inmates. For some reason the approach to fixing these windows and grates were slow, in stages and after the acts were committed. It appears the warnings were not approached with the seriosness it deserved. The funds need to be allotted in the budget and repairs made immediately, not over months and years. Employees responsible for screening the risk of the inmates mental health history should be able to contact all mental health institutions in the state to see if the inmate has a history in their institution and what risk they may pose to themselves or others. There should be zero tolerance related to suicide speach and necessary actions taken to alleviate those risks.
8. A medical examiner’s report found that a man who died in the Durham jail in May was killed by a heroin overdose, even though he had been in custody about seven months. Do you believe DCSO has the resources it needs to maintain security at the jail? For what additional resources would you advocate?
(a) I would need to conduct a review of the staffing within the jail to determine if it falls short. We have to take into account visitation staffing, are visitors and inmates being properly searched before and after visitation, are there enough officers to escort and remain with outside contractors, are the inmates working inside the jail supervised properly, are there inmates working outside the jail properly supervised and searched before and after the work is completed and are staff being searched before entry into the jail. These are all areas related to security that has an impact on items entering the facility.
9. Multiple courts have ruled that ICE detainer requests do not meet Fourth Amendment requirements for arrest. Under what circumstances should the Sheriff’s Office honor detainer requests? Please explain your answer.
(a) The Sheriffs’ Office should honor all detainer request dealing with felony and violent crimes. All crimes are terrible incidents for the victims of those crimes but if you release a person who is in the country illegally that has been arrested for a vioent crime or felony that has an ICE detainer attached would be not in the best interest of safety to the public. I would require that ICE transport the detainee as soon as possible and reimburse the county the cost for holding them.
10. Under North Carolina law, body-camera footage is not public record. Under what circumstances do you believe the public should be allowed to review body camera footage?
(a) If body cameras are used to record incidents and arrest in an effort to show the public that the arresting officer followed policy and procedures, then I think the public (county residents) should be able to review the footage after making the proper request. Body cameras were issued by most agency’s in an effort to be transparent with the public. If the public is not allowed to view the footage, there is no transparency, therefore causing more distrust in the law enforcement agency.
11. Similarly, 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 literally 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?
(a) Law enforcemnt officers serve the public. I believe the public in which the officer serves (county residents)have a right to know if one of its officers has been disciplined and why. Currently citizens pictures are posted in newspapers and websites for charges and the law states that they are innocent until proven guilty but they are still posted and this has an affect on their lives to include employment. So if the entire country has access to this information of the citizen who hasn’t been convicted of a crime, why not have information of an officer who’s making the arrest disciplinary files public upon request.
12. What policies would you support to reduce recidivism, particularly among youthful offenders?
(a) I support evidence based policies that have shown to support reduced rates in both adults and juveniles. We should look at the three principals, the Risk, Need and Responsivity. I believe if we continue to review and adapt our programs and policies in this manner, the North Carolina Courts and our Adult Corrections and Juvenile Justice Systems will continue to see rates drop.
Risk Principal focuses supervision and services on youth most likely to reoffend. Prioritizing system interventions for youth at high risk of reoffending can lead to a significant reduction in recidivism. Conversely, intervening with youth who are at low risk of reoffending has a limited impact and can even lead to adverse outcomes.
Need Principal addresses a youth’s greatest criminogenic needs. Systems can have the greatest impact on recidivism when they attend to the specific, individualized needs that are the primary causes of youth’s delinquent behaviors, such as substance use or negative peers.
Responsivity Principal identifies a youth’s barriers to learning and improving his or her behavior, and tailors services to help overcome them. The Responsivity principle can enhance the impact of services by addressing needs or conditions, such as mental disorders, that interfere with service engagement, and by motivating youth to change.
13. This year’s county budget included funding for five additional deputies to serve as school resource officers, and money for SROs to be outfitted with body cameras. What role do you think SRO’s should play in Durham schools?
(a) I think SRO’s role within a school should be utilized for the safety and security of everyone on school property limited to criminal activity that could cause serious bodily injury that could lead to death. In my opinion, I don’t believe SRO’s should be arresting students for violations of school policy. Schools have the ability to discipline students for an array of incidents, including thefts, fights and drugs and have the ability to recommend counseling services for all. Arresting students for school violations doesn’t help the students, calling an SRO to respond to and take charge of these incidents puts the officer in the middle of situations that are of administrative concern. Security Officers should be called for these school policy violations if the teacher and administrators need assistance and proper disciplinary action taken if required.
14. Identify and explain one principled stand you would be willing to take if elected that you suspect might cost you some points with voters.
(a) At this point, I honestly can’t think of any. Administration of the law in a fair and consistent manner doesn’t lead me to believe that I would lose points with voters.
