Raleigh, N.C. — Four people filed Monday as candidates for Wake County sheriff in next year's election, and several more, including current Sheriff Gerald Baker, are expected to follow suit before the filing period closes Dec. 17.
Former Sheriff Donnie Harrison was among the early entrants in the race. He served four terms as sheriff before losing to Baker in 2018.
"It’s time for a new sheriff. It’s time we put law enforcement back in Wake County," Harrison said. "We want to make sure this is a safe county. ... You don’t see many deputies out on the road anymore."
Harrison was joined by fellow Republican David Blackwelder and Democrats Joe Coley and Roy Taylor as first-day filers in the sheriff's race.
"I just want a safer place for everyone who lives here, works here or even drives through our county," said Coley, a former Wake County deputy who now works for the State Capitol Police. "When I was a deputy, we were running 24 deputies on a platoon for patrol, and now they are averaging eight. That’s making the call response a lot longer; that’s definitely making it not as safe for the deputies or the public."
Baker, a Democrat, acknowledged that the sheriff's office is about 20 to 25 deputies short of being fully staffed, saying law enforcement agencies nationwide are having trouble attracting and retaining officers.
"We are aggressively and actively hiring right now, and we are looking for the best we can find," he said. "Everybody is having issues; everybody is hiring. This is not a Gerald Baker issue."
But Sgt. Jared Ollison, a former ally of Baker, hinted at morale problems in the department when he submitted his resignation this month.
"I hoped and prayed that this office would be the example where political affiliations would have no effect on our colleague’s progression in rank or opportunities. We have failed to maintain our most basic principle – finding and embracing truth," Ollison wrote.
Baker said he has worked to instill accountability, transparency and integrity in the office and insisted that changes he made to the management structure have been successful.
"This office’s morale is better than it’s been in years," he said. "Those who feel differently are going to be those who are disgruntled for reasons they know."
Taylor, another former deputy who now heads an agency that provides security for shopping centers and subdivisions, said he wants to bring more programs into the county jail to reduce recidivism.
"I want to work with people who are in the jail that have mental illnesses and try to get them proper treatment," he said.
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