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ernment “run amuck.” He places blame on the progressive
organization Athens for Everyone and accuses Williams of
being a member.
“If A4E is successful in bringing down the police depart
ment, it will be my job as sheriff to step in and protect the
community,” Hare said over social media, where he uses the
hashtag #SaveAthens. “Mariah Parker, Tim Denson, [com
missioner-elect] Jesse Houle and John Q. Williams cannot
do this to our community.”
Williams has worked at ACCPD since 2007, first in the
communications division, then as a patrol officer and detec
tive and most recently as an instructor with the ACCPD
Career Development and Training Unit.
Williams is not a member of A4E and said he disagrees
with some of their positions. “But you have to be able to
work with people with different ideas,” Williams said. “We
need people who challenge the status quo. Sometimes they
will bring something new to the table, and it will be the
thing that works. The divisive nature of a lot of the rhetoric
that’s going around is not going to help Clarke County.”
Williams wants to work as sheriff in collaboration with
the ACC police department and the rest of the local govern
ment. He said that Hare has misrepresented his record of
service and his position on the 50/10 Plan.
Hare had to take a short break from campaigning
recently after contracting COVID-19. He went into quar
antine after holding several campaign events in which he
appeared in photos not wearing a mask and in close prox
imity to other members of the Athens GOP. He’s back at it
now, saying he feels fine and is ready to push hard to make
up for lost time.
The election is Nov. 3; early voting starts Oct. 12. ©
rm± feature
A New Sheriff in Town
AFTER UNSEATING IRA EDWARDS, JOHN Q. WILLIAMS FACES ROBERT HARE
By Chris Dowd news@flagpole.com
wants to welcome the community
into the decision-making process as
he pursues criminal justice reform.
But before he can get started
on any of this, he’ll first have to
defeat Hare, a nine-year veteran of
the sheriff’s office. Like Williams,
Hare has a plan to end the culture
of favoritism and boost recruit
ment and retention of new depu
ties. Both candidates also oppose John Q. Williams
the “50/10 plan” put forward by
commissioners Mariah Parker and Tim Denson to redirect
police funding, but that’s where their similarities end.
Hare’s position on ICE, for example, is the exact oppo
site of Williams’. Instead of refusing to cooperate with ICE,
Hare wants to strengthen ties
with this federal agency through
the 287(g) program. That would
allow deputies to become immi
gration agents capable of trans
ferring non-citizens into ICE
custody.
In light of some shocking alle
gations about how immigrants
have been treated recently by
ICE, it’s perhaps no surprise that
287(g) has been strongly criti
cized by immigrant groups such
as the Athens Immigrant Rights
Coalition. Williams joins them in
criticism, saying that enrolling in
287(g) would be “immoral” and
“counterproductive to the goal of
making our community safer.”
Despite their agreement that
police should be well-funded, Hare and Williams have a
sharp disagreement on the current countrywide protests
against police brutality and what they mean for the Athens
community. Hare envisions a dystopian future in which the
police department has been destroyed through defunding,
allowing crime to spread and protesters to enact mob rule.
Hare said that the ACC Police Department is “under
the thumb of the mayor and commission” in a local gov
Robert Hare
D espite being outspent three-to-one, Athens-Clarke
County police Sgt. John Q, Williams managed
to defeat incumbent Sheriff Ira Edwards in the
Democratic primary this year, ensuring that Athens will
have a new sheriff for the first time in 20 years. He’s facing
Republican Robert Hare, a retired sheriff’s deputy, in the
general election.
William’s margin of victory was razor-thin—under
400 votes. Even so, Williams sees his win as a mandate
for change. During the campaign, he promised not to help
Immigration and Customs Enforcement deport Athenians,
refused to accept donations from bail bondsmen and laid
out a plan to reform aspects of the sheriff’s office that have
been poorly managed in recent years.
“It all starts with how you treat people, and I think that’s
the most important thing: treating people with dignity
and respect. We need to change
the culture,” Williams said in an
interview with Flagpole.
A recent audit of the Clarke
County Sheriff’s Office found that
deputies have been struggling
with low morale caused in part
by long hours and understaffing.
They’ve also complained about a
culture of favoritism benefiting
some deputies while most are
kept in line with strict discipline
and intimidation. Over half of
employees said in a survey done
for the audit that they feared
retaliation from their supervisor
if they reported a sensitive issue
or concern.
Another major concern for
deputies has been the depart
ment’s harsh sick leave policy, which requires a doctor’s
note for every absence. Williams has pledged to end this
policy while also rotating duties among deputies so that
new hires aren’t the only ones doing the most exhausting
and difficult work. Williams said he hopes that this will
encourage new employees to stick around a little longer and
eventually help lighten the load for everyone working there.
He’s also promised “unprecedented transparency” and
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OCTOBER 7, 2020 | FLAGPOLE.COM
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