Government

Sheriff candidate: “I’m opposed to legalizing marijuana.”

Brian Crabtree hopes to be the next sheriff of Berkeley County.
Brian Adams hopes to be the next sheriff of Berkeley County.

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.—As a graduate of Stratford High School and longtime resident of Berkeley County, Brian Adams, who has more than twenty years in law enforcement, has his heart set on this year’s upcoming election for sheriff, a position he has decided to run for.

On Friday, Adams appeared on The Bryan Crabtree Show to explain his reason for running for sheriff of the largest county in the state and facing longtime sheriff, Wayne Dewitt, in the November election.   Since 1995, Dewitt has served as sheriff of Berkeley County.

Adams started his career in law enforcement as a reserve office for the City of Goose Creek.  In 1992, he became a full time officer.  He later joined the North Charleston Police Department in 1996 and has been with the department ever since.

“I’ve been in police work going on for 23 years, and I’ve gained a lot of experience working with North Charleston, and it’s one of my aspirations to be the sheriff of Berkeley County,” stated Adams while appearing on The Brian Crabtree Show.

On fighting crime

If you talk to people who live in Berkeley County, crime appears to be migrating from Charleston County and setting up shop here.

In the last few weeks, the county has seen a spike in meth busts as well as violent crime.

Late last year, multiple people were arrested in connection with a deadly shooting that took place at the Moonshine Saloon on Myer’s Rd. The shooting claimed the life of 32-year-old April Infinger.

Adams believes businesses that have problems with crime should be monitored closely.

“If we are getting a lot of reports of violence and other crimes are taking place, we need to start looking at those places and see if we can remove their license and close them down,” said Adams.

Adams also believes that part of the solution to curbing crime is putting more officers on the road.

“The first thing you’ve got to solve is putting more manpower on the roads,” he said.  “The department is currently kind of top heavy.  They don’t have as many officers on the road, per say, as your Charleston County, Charleston city, North Charleston.  I think they would have to put some of the sergeants on the street, and those that are in admin positions, put them back on the street to put more manpower out there and make them working supervisors.”

When asked if Adams would be open to setting up substations in some portions of the county, he said there are pros and cons to doing so.

“I get a lot of comments about ‘substations, substations, substations,’” said Adams.  “I agree with substations.  The problem with substations is that if you don’t have the manpower on the road, you could put all the substations you want, but when they get dispatched, they’re going to leave that area.”

On building community relations

Adam believes improving relationships with the community is also a major factor into helping to curb the county’s crime.

“We have to build a relationship with the families and those that live in the community,” said Adams.

“We have to show them that we’re not there to hurt them or their family.  We are there to solve crimes.”

If elected sheriff, Adams said he would like to create a community officer program.

“That would allow the deputies to respond quicker, freeing them up for other calls as well as having face to face contact with some community service officers to take some of the non-violent issues and reports,” said Adams.

On utilizing crime analysis

According to Adams, despite a recent spike in North Charleston crime, overall crime is down over the last eleven years.

Adams believes that utilizing crime analysis has helped officers curb crime in communities.

“We follow the crime.  We look at the crime that’s taking place in certain communities, say for instance, St. James Estate off of Red Bank Road.  They’ve had a spike in crime.  They had several vehicles stolen over the last thirty days,” said Adams.  “We can look at that data and put the amount of deputies that we think Is needed to get in there to stop that and maybe solve the crime.  You also use that in order to place the extra deputies needed to stop whatever from happening again.”

On marijuana legalization

After Colorado and Washington recently became the first two states to legalize and regulate the use of marijuana, the move has since fueled the debate whether it should be legal in other states.

If you ask Adams, he believes it’s a bad idea.

“My stance is that I don’t think it should be legalized,” he said.  “I do think it’s going to be a Pandora ’s Box that we open, and I think down the road we are going to regret opening up that box.”

According to Adams, if South Carolina were to ever legalize the drug, it would not necessarily reduce crime.

“You’re still going to have some illegal growers out there.  You’re still going to have some illegal dealers out there.  It’s no different than with alcohol and things like that,” he said.  “The problem is with it being legalized in different states. Our courts aren’t looking at it the same way.”

To learn more about Brian Adams, click here.

crabtree2The Bryan Crabtree Show airs from  8-10 a.m. on WQSC 1340 and 950 AM.  You can visit the show’s website by clicking here.  You can also catch Rocky D on the same airwaves from 3-6 p.m.

NOTE: The show is currently trying to air a one-on-one interview with current sheriff, Wayne Dewitt.  As soon as he appears, Dewitt’s interview will appear on The Berkeley Observer as well.  We are all about fairness, of course.

Nikki Gaskins Campbell
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