In recent years, the Fulton County Jail has been plagued by troubling statistics—ten deaths last year alone, with three more already reported this year. These figures have raised alarms and spotlighted the urgent need for reform within the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. James J.T. Brown, a candidate for Sheriff, is on a mission to address these issues head-on with a bold vision of transformational leadership.
Accountability and Leadership
When asked about his approach to the crisis, Brown was unequivocal: “Negligent deaths will not be tolerated. It starts with leadership.” He emphasized the critical role of accountability in his strategy, pledging to transform the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office into an organization marked by positive change and a commitment to the well-being of every individual in its care.
“I tell people I'm a transformational leader,” Brown stated. “We're going to be accountable for everybody coming into that facility. Deputy Sheriffs are caretakers. I don't need you on board if you don't have that mentality.” This philosophy underpins his vision of making the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office the premier Sheriff's department in the country.
Community Involvement
Brown’s campaign is not just about his vision; it’s also about mobilizing the community. One key supporter highlighted the importance of informed voting: “We definitely need to vote, and we need to vote James J.T. Brown. But it’s more than just casting a ballot; it’s about doing your research. Look into the candidates' backgrounds, community service, endorsements, and overall vision.”
The message is clear: the community must vote thoughtfully and with intention, ensuring that the elected leader can bring about the necessary changes. “We don't want to vote again and be right back here in the next year or two,” the supporter added.
Engaging the Younger Generation
Brown recognizes that the path to lasting change begins with the younger generation. “Proactive engagement with our young adults is crucial,” he said. He envisions a future where every young person in Fulton County can access education and career opportunities through vocational schools, universities, junior colleges, or the military.
To support this vision, Brown plans to utilize the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office budget to establish crisis intervention centers across the county. “We need these centers in neighborhoods—northeast, south, and west—to provide resources and support to our youth,” he explained.
Crisis Intervention Centers
These proposed crisis intervention centers are a cornerstone of Brown’s strategy. They aim to provide comprehensive support and resources to those in need, addressing issues before they escalate into crises. By focusing on prevention and early intervention, these centers will help reduce the incidence of emergencies that require law enforcement involvement, ultimately saving lives and fostering a safer community.
Conclusion
James J.T. Brown’s campaign for Sheriff of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office is rooted in a commitment to transformational leadership, accountability, and proactive community engagement. By focusing on the welfare of every individual in the county and prioritizing the needs of the younger generation, Brown aims to bring about significant, positive change.
As Fulton County approaches the election, the community is called to action. Voting for a leader who embodies these values and has a clear, actionable plan is crucial. James J.T. Brown is ready to lead the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office with integrity and vision, ensuring that the Sheriff's Office serves as a model of excellence and care.
Vote for James J.T. Brown. Vote for change. Vote for a brighter future for Fulton County.
Better with Brown.
In a recent interview on People Passion and Politics, candidate for Sheriff of Fulton County James "JT" Brown, shared insights into his background, motivations, and vision for the role. With a rich academic and professional background in law enforcement, Mr. Brown's candidacy brings a unique perspective to the critical issues facing Fulton County.
Mr. Brown, a Morehouse College graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Master's degree in Administration, brings over 30 years of experience as a deputy sheriff to his campaign. His work in all three major divisions of the sheriff's office - jail, court, and law enforcement - has equipped him with a deep understanding of the operational challenges and opportunities within the department.
During the interview, Mr. Brown underscored the importance of creating a safe and humane environment for detainees within the Fulton County jail. He shared concerns about recent tragic incidents and deaths within the facility, emphasizing the need for strong leadership and adherence to policy and procedure to prevent such occurrences in the future.
One of the prominent topics discussed was the execution of warrants, especially for violent offenders. Drawing on his experience in the warrant division, Mr. Brown highlighted the significance of properly executing warrants to apprehend individuals engaged in serious criminal activities. He stressed the role of effective law enforcement in enhancing public safety and reducing crime rates in the community.
As the election date approaches, Mr. Brown outlined his campaign strategy, which includes neighborhood canvassing and engagement with community organizations. Mr. Brown aims to implement youth diversion programs to address the root causes of criminal behavior and promote community safety and well-being.
Mr. Brown extended an invitation to listeners to visit his website, JamesJTBrown.com, to learn more about his platform and engage with his campaign. His commitment to reforming the sheriff's office and prioritizing community engagement signifies a candidate driven by a genuine desire to serve and protect the residents of Fulton County.
James “JT” Brown has 37 years of experience as a law enforcement and security professional. Now, he’s looking to take what he’s learned to become the 2024 Fulton County Sheriff. With issues such as fiscal management, deaths in the jail, and budgeting, Brown is looking to put his vision and plan into motion and create a safer environment for those in Fulton County.
Brown spoke with rolling out about his vision as sheriff and what he plans to change if he is elected into office.
You mention the three d’s in your campaign. What are they?
Death, dollars, and diversion. For deaths [in the jai], it starts with leadership, doing policy and procedures, and implementing a plan to solve all the major issues that are going on at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office at this time. You have to have a plan for the deaths.
Also, we’re going to have diversion. Diversion is very important. I’m going to have a youth program, which is a literacy program, because on my tour duties when I was working in juvenile warrants, most of the youth who were in trouble stated the reason they didn’t go to school was because they couldn’t read it and they got teased. I said if I ever got in charge of the sheriff’s office, I was definitely going to have a literacy program to bring that problem to a halt.
Next are detainees that are inside the Fulton County Jail. In order for them to be productive when they get out, I want to have job programs where they can actually earn money while they’re in jail. I’ve been talking to business organizations because I’m going to need a partnership with businesses to help us meet that challenge. I’m going to partner with businesses to bring jobs into the Fulton County Jail for those detainees so that when they get out, they have something to look forward to.
The last one is recidivism. I do not want them to return. So those programs that I have, I’m also going to make sure that they keep up with those programs after they’re out of the Fulton County Jail. It’s almost like them being on probation; we’re gonna keep up with them to make sure that they stay on track so they will not end up back at the Fulton County Jail. That will bring the incarceration rate down and bring tax dollars down also, so the taxpayers won’t have to spend money on incarcerated people.
What is your leadership style?
My leadership style is a law enforcement CEO. I have the business acumen and also the law enforcement experience to handle that side of it. I’ve done the job. I worked in the jail division, the court division, and the law enforcement division of the sheriff’s office. As far as law enforcement, nobody can tell me what to do as far as [how to run] the sheriff’s office… If I see a problem, I have a team of experts and myself that see the issues, the problems. Also the business acumen; I have a security company I have branded for the past 18 years. The sheriff’s office budget right now is almost a quarter of a billion dollars. You don’t want anyone in there with just a high school degree trying to manage that type of money. You need to know if someone else is in there doing some kind of proposal for your budget and a contract, and you should know how to read those contracts and analyze them yourself without relying on someone else. My badge was also tarnished, and that’s why I’m running. I want to bring that integrity and accountability … back to the sheriff’s office.
Credit to:
- BY MALIK BROWN
- Link to Article
- MAR 08, 2024
- 6:16 PM
Fulton County Sheriff candidate James “JT” Brown has a plan. In fact, the now-retired veteran law enforcement officer has a three-step plan to return the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) to what he believed were its former lofty heights of respectability and efficiency. These days, you can Google the combination of “Fulton County Sheriff’s Office” and “Atlanta 2023” and a plethora of stories and posts on probes into the Fulton County Jail, detention officer arrests, and bad reviews on working at the jail.
On a Friday morning inside the offices of The Atlanta Voice Brown took his badge out of the breast pocket of his navy blue suit. He retired in December 2022 so these days his FCSO badge reads “retired”, but he still keeps it close. After 37 years with the department, the level of pride he once had in the badge has changed.
“My badge is tarnished,” said Brown, tapping the badge with his right index finger. “What’s going on in the jail, the atrocities, we are talking about a controlled environment. How are people dying in a controlled environment when you have an almost quarter-billion-dollar budget?”
The plan is simple, says Brown. It consists of the “Three D’s”, he explained. “Deaths, dollars, and diversion.” Regarding the multiple deaths that have taken place within the Fulton County Jail the past few years during current FCSO Sheriff Patrick Labat’s first term as sheriff, Brown said, “We are going to correct that problem.”
Last year Brown and other retired department members who were still on reserve helped with a shakedown at the jail. Having been gone for a year, he was surprised at how things looked inside the jail where he once worked. “We found 138 shanks on detainees that day,” he recalled. “I know the county can do better because I saw better.”
On the fiscal issues that have taken place, Brown said, “The fiscal management is shot over there, so we are going to correct that and make sure the budget is running efficiently and effectively.”
The final “D” in the plan calls for programs that will focus on the youngest offenders. Brown spent time in the FCSO warrant division and witnessed first-hand how an arrest can derail a young man’s life. “This is what I heard from the kids when we went to their house because their parents couldn’t handle them, ‘Officer I dropped out of school because I couldn’t read’,” said Brown, who believes the road to petty crimes and ultimately a trip to Rice Street oftentimes starts with not being in school.
“I told myself that if I ever got in charge I would create a reading program for the youth, and would work with community partners so we can bring the jail rate down.”
Brown has seen it all and then some during his career, which is entirely with the FCSO. As a member of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) he not only worked on the warrant division but also the extradition unit, and was elected to the Fulton County Grievance Board. During his career he also received training from the National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI).
“I am a law enforcement CEO,” said Brown, a Detroit native who graduated from Morehouse College in 1985 before joining the FCSO in 1986, starting his nearly four-decade-long career. That career and the educational experiences that took place during that time are what Brown’s supporters are saying which makes him the candidate to choose.
“We have to start putting people in office who carry character. That’s the challenge,” said Brown’s wife of 19 years Monisha Brown. “My challenge to voters is to ask around the county about the reputations of all four candidates.”
One of those voters will be the couple’s 18-year-old son London. He will be voting for the first time by the time the May 12 primary election takes place. A high school senior who is following in his father’s footsteps and will be headed to Morehouse College in the fall, London said his father’s character played a big part in earning his future vote. In an interview with The Atlanta Voice last week, the student-athlete said Brown had to earn his vote like any other candidate would have had to. “I see myself as an average voter and not JT Brown’s son,” he said. “The way he has to convince everyone else to vote for him, he has to do the same for me.”
London remembered an exchange between the two when he asked his father what he was planning to do if elected and what he was planning to change.
“He wants to change the image of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office,” London recalled. “From what he told me I told him he had my vote. I don’t see myself voting for JT Brown, my father, I see myself as an average voter voting for the best candidate who I believe is going to do what he needs to do to fix the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.”
If reputation and experience will define who the next Fulton County Sheriff is, Brown believes he will win. All those years working at various levels of the department have led him to this moment, he said.
“I can win the election because I am the most approachable; the citizens know me. I did a lot of community service. My education, my training, I have every law enforcement certification there is because I wanted to make sure I was qualified to do the job instead of just learning it when I got there.”
Credit to:
- BY Donnell Suggs
- Link to Article
- February 12, 2024
