School resources officers, crime and mental health in the county's jail were the topics during a candidates' forum featuring Whitfield County's incumbent sheriff and his challenger.
Sheriff Scott Chitwood, a Democrat, said he has kept Whitfield County safe during his 30 years of service, while his Republican challenger, Darren Pierce, said he thinks the sheriff's department needs new leadership.
The Dalton Area League of Women Voters hosted the forum at Dalton's Mack Gaston Community Center. About 200 attended the event Tuesday night.
Early voting begins Oct. 15, and Election Day is Nov. 5. Georgia voters have until Oct. 25 to submit an application to absentee vote by mail.
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Whitfield County sheriff, opponent face off at candidate forumSCOTT CHITWOOD
Chitwood said he was thankful for the honor and privilege of serving the people of Whitfield County as sheriff for 32 years.
Describing his accomplishments, Chitwood listed decades of achievements and said he was selected Georgia's sheriff of the year in 2002. He said he has also served as president of the Georgia Sheriff's Association and Big Brother Big Sisters.
Chitwood said that under his leadership, the office has improved its fingerprinting system, expanded the sex offender registry unit and the animal control unit. The medical unit in the jail and court services unit have also been expanded, he said.
"I think that we have completed much of my goal, and I'm very proud to announce everything that I've shared with you," Chitwood said.
DARREN PIERCE
Pierce said he has about 18 years of experience with the county sheriff's office and left law enforcement about three years ago.
In an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press ahead of winning the May Republican primary, he said he left the sheriff's office because he didn't like the direction it was heading. During the primary, Pierce worked as a health and safety manager for an industrial cleanup company but recently stepped away from that position to focus on his campaign, he said in a text message.
Pierce defeated four other primary candidates with about 53% of the vote.
He said he was running on three issues: transparency, developing community-oriented programs and having a school resource officer for every school in the county.
Another priority, he said, is developing a drug canine interdiction team. The county had one of the best canine handlers in the country, Pierce said, but that person left the sheriff's office in February.
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SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS
Chitwood said his office met with the board of education in 2021 and 2022 to discuss adding school resource officers, but that proposal was not approved. Last month, he said the state superintendent made it known that there is a plan to place school resource officers in public schools throughout the state.
Pierce said that denial by the school board was not acceptable, and if he was sheriff, he would have parked patrol cars in school parking lots despite what the school board said.
(READ MORE: In Whitfield County, a host of Republican candidates vie to challenge long-serving Democrat sheriff)
The governor's office will advocate for school resource officer funding and a crisis alert system during the upcoming legislative session, according to a news release from Gov. Brian Kemp.
CRIME INCREASES
Violent crime has been on the increase since 2017, Pierce said, referencing FBI crime statistics. He also said the county's five homicides this year show crime is out of control.
"We have to get tough on crime," he said. "We are not. Crime has been on the increase."
Chitwood said the county is not overloaded by crime and attributed the increase in crime to an increase in population. Nobody can stop murders, Chitwood said, but law enforcement has solved every murder in the county over the past 30 years.
"I think that should make you, the citizens, really proud," he said of the county's record on murders.
PLEASANT GROVE
While speaking about crime, Chitwood spoke about the late August shooting of four young men in Pleasant Grove.
"That was a dope deal gone bad," he said. "It was a very, very tragic ending. It could not be stopped."
Within about 10 hours, the sheriff's department had made an arrest, he said.
Toward the end of the forum, Hank Henson, a resident of Pleasant Grove, asked Chitwood about any updates on the deaths.
"We have a right to know what's going on," he said.
Chitwood said he didn't want to go into much detail because the case is an ongoing investigation, but he added law enforcement has executed more than 50 search warrants and arrested a 16-year-old resident of Rome in connection with the case.
After the forum, Henson said he wasn't satisfied with the sheriff's answer and wanted to know if the people responsible for the killings were still being sought.
MENTAL HEALTH
Pierce referenced a news story from January detailing how a man's brother committed suicide after deputies did not respond to a 911 call about the man's mental health crisis. He said the sheriff's department should answer every suicide call with at least two deputies and develop a crisis intervention team skilled at communication and deescalation.
"That could be somebody's mom, dad, somebody's brother, somebody's sister," Pierce said. "You answer every one of those calls."
Chitwood said it was false that the sheriff's office doesn't answer suicide calls and added it has answered 75 such calls this year. The sheriff's office doesn't respond to every suicide call, he said, giving the example of a Tunnel Hill man who threatened to kill officers if they drove on to his property. Deputies weren't sent in that instance, he said.
The top problem in the state's jails is mental illness, he said. Chitwood said the sheriff's office is about to start a pilot program that will help diagnose the mental health of inmates sooner so they can be sent to facilities equipped to treat them.
LEADERSHIP
The biggest self-criticism Chitwood gave the audience is that he's a workaholic. He said he arrives at the office at 6 a.m. daily and works 50 or 60 hours a week, including time on the weekends.
"I am very serious about the job," he said. "You folks have blessed me to put me in this position, and I think it's only right that I dedicate and commit myself to serve in the best way I can."
Pierce said he has good communication skills, is dependable and compassionate.
"I'm an extremely hard worker, you can ask anybody who has ever worked with me," he said. "I work hard. I will never ask my employees to do something I wouldn't do myself."
PARTY LOYALTY
Political parties have no place in law enforcement, Chitwood said.
In the 1990s, there was a change-over from Democrat to Republican in Georgia, he said. But he did not make the switch because his father was a "die-hard" Democrat, and he stayed with the party out of loyalty to him. Chitwood said his father died earlier this year at the age of 97.
Chitwood is one of the only Democratic elected officials in Northwest Georgia.
Pierce said that if he arrives at a scene as a law enforcement officer, it doesn't matter what political party a community member supports. Party loyalty does speak to morals, beliefs and ethics, and he said he believes in the Republican Party's platform.
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
In Chitwood's campaign contribution report filed at the end of September, he had received nearly $25,000 in contributions and had nearly $9,300 in expenditures.
Pierce's most recent campaign contribution report was filed in early July. He said he had received just over $12,000 in 2024 and spent nearly $4,000.
VOTER FEEDBACK
During questions, Charlene Caldwell said she gave both candidates a book about the broad powers of sheriffs.
Chitwood was given the book two years ago, the resident of Rocky Face said, but he didn't say if he had read the book when she asked at the forum. He didn't return her phone call about the book either, Caldwell said. Pierce said he read the book when asked by Caldwell.
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Pierce said the sheriff is the last line of the Constitution's defense who can override federal mandates. Chitwood agreed and said the federal government would not be allowed to seize anyone's guns.
After the forum, Caldwell said she is voting for Pierce.
"I think we need new blood," she said. "He gets up there all cocky. I like that. And I want the drug dogs back."
She agreed with Pierce that Chitwood should have already created a school resource officer program.
Hector Santiago, a resident of Rocky Face, said the forum was informative, but he didn't think Pierce was specific enough in his pledge to improve the sheriff's department.
"He was just attacking the sheriff himself," Santiago said.
Chitwood has done a good job, Santiago said, and deserves respect from his opponent because of the sheriff's three decades of service to the community.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.