Wake sheriff touts community policing in run up to election

This story incorrectly referred to Donnie Harrison as a two-term Wake County sheriff. Harrison is completing his third term and is seeking a fourth this fall.

See videos of Donnie Harrison and Willie Rowe discussing the sheriff's race at the bottom of this story.

RALEIGH — Three-term Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison says he loves his job and that he’s “going after it strong” in the days leading up to the Nov. 7 election when he faces a retired, veteran commander who served under him.

“We are very proactive,” Harrison said during a meeting with the editorial board of The News & Observer. “I believe in community policing. I try to get everyone involved. When you see me out, it’s not to check on my [deputies], I’m making contacts throughout the county.”

Harrison is challenged by Willie Rowe, who grew up in Southeast Raleigh and retired last year after nearly 30 years in the sheriff’s office to run against his former boss.

A prominent theme in Rowe’s campaign has been that Harrison’s brand of law enforcement has been reactionary and largely concerned with catching criminals and putting them in jail.

Rowe has also been critical of Harrison’s support of a proposal to hire a private police force to replace deputies as school resource officers. Rowe says schools have largely turned over disciplinary issues to those officers, leading to more student expulsions and long-term suspensions, putting children on the streets where they are funneled into crime.

Harrison partly agrees with Rowe. He, too, thinks that are a number of behavioral issues that school resource officers should not get involved with and that it’s important for them to develop a rapport with students. But he said the officers “can’t turn their backs to crime.

“If it’s worthy of a citation in the mall, what difference does it make if it’s in school?” Harrison asked.

Harrison thinks that a prevailing attitude in many communities is that “police are bad” making citizens suspicious of them and their actions. He noted a recent incident in Fuquay-Varina, where an African-American foster teen living with a white family was mistakenly pepper-sprayed by town police who thought he was a burglary suspect.

“They didn’t know who the kid was,” Harrison said. “But if they had left the kid and the people come home and find half their stuff gone, people are going to say, ‘Sheriff, you had him.’ ”

Harrison, a three-term incumbent, deflected suggestions that there are systemic problems among his staff, particularly at the Wake County jail. Six detention officers resigned or were fired in March following accusations that they fraternized with inmates, including one lieutenant said to have given preferential treatment to Amanda Hayes, a woman convicted of second-degree murder one month earlier.

There were also questions raised in lawsuits stemming from claims that detention officers assaulted inmates, including one incident in which former detention officer Markeith Council was criminally charged after a surveillance video showed him slamming inmate Shon Demetrius McClain into a concrete floor, killing him.

Harrison said discipline among staff at the detention center could “improve, absolutely.” He also said that the detention staff accused of improper conduct with inmates were relieved of their duties.

“The jail is like a village, with all kinds of people,” he said. “The detention center staff has policies and procedures to go by. When they don’t, we take action.”

An open-door policy

Harrison said part of the issue at the jail is the high percentage of inmates – about 65 percent – who are found to have had current or past problems with mental illness when they are admitted.

“I tell people we are the biggest mental health facility in the city, and we are,” he said.

Even with the criticisms, Harrison said his office has avoided scandal because he tries to be transparent and accessible.

“I have an open-door policy,” he said. “A lot of people are having problems with law enforcement. I think it’s perception sometimes, but the lines of communication have got to stay open with community leaders.”

There have been complaints, too, from area bail bonds agents who say the sheriff ordered a list of all bail bond agents taken down from the walls of the detention center. They think the sheriff took down the list to create more business for a friend, Richard Lowry, whose bail bonds office has a prominent sign across the street from the detention center on Hammond Road.

“It was a headache trying to keep the list up,” Harrison said. “People kept tearing it down.”

Higher salaries needed

The sheriff pointed out that members of the public are aware of problems that have taken place at the jail, but few are aware of the positive impact the department has had in the community since he was first elected in 2002, including a reorganization of the agency, the addition of patrol cars on the streets, the opening of a state-of-the-art detention center and a new public safety center.

Harrison touts other accomplishments, including:

“If we call and there’s no answer, a deputy heads that way,” Harrison said. “There have been a few times where someone has passed away, or someone is on the floor and can’t get up.”

As for the future, Harrison says the biggest need for his office is an increase in salaries.

“We are the lowest-paid agency in Wake County,” he said. “Could I use more people? Yes. But to me it’s more important to get them a better salary than they have now.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2014 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Wake sheriff touts community policing in run up to election."