DUBLIN, Ga. — Laurens County's incumbent sheriff Larry Dean secured another term in office, setting up a third term as top cop in Laurens County.
He faced off against Tyler Jackson, a current sergeant at the Fort Valley Police Department who served 14 years with the sheriff's office. He left the Laurens County Sheriff's Office in 2021.
Dean decisively beat Jackson with over 65% of the vote.
With 100% of precincts reporting, here’s how Laurens County residents voted in the race for Laurens County Sheriff.
Results:
Larry Dean (R-incumbent): 65.86% - 15,124 votes
Tyler Jackson (D): 34.14% - 7,839 votes
Looking ahead: Dean's goals
In looking at his tenure as sheriff, Dean emphasized his work to increase pay — paving the way for a $7,000 pay raise for new deputies – and increasing training hours for 20 to 129 hours.
Both of those facts help make the sheriff’s office more equipped for the challenges deputies face every day.
"Law enforcement officers are being critiqued so much harder nowadays, so the more training you can get at,” Dean said. “You got your mental health issues. You got people with ADHD. You need- all these officers, an officer has just a matter of seconds to figure all this out. And you have to get these people in classrooms where they can understand this stuff because, like I said, mental health is a major issue in our county, and it's in every county.”
Dean also says he wants to focus on proactive policing, patrolling neighborhoods and helping get guns off the streets.
There is also the benefit that comes from building strong relationships with other law enforcement agencies.
"We'll go and set up roadblocks with GSP, we'll go and set up roadblocks with our, with our cities officers. And just be pro-law enforcement. We just put blue lights up in your neighborhood. With the people out late at night, traveling, we just get out and do road checks," Dean said.
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