DUBLIN, Ga. — Tyler Jackson wants to be the next sheriff of Laurens County. He's running as a Democrat against current Republican Sheriff Larry Dean, who was elected sheriff in 2016.
Jackson started his career in the Laurens County Sheriff's Office as a jail officer in 2007. And when he left in 2021 to get ready to run for sheriff, he was a school resource officer.
When he left in 2021, he went to work as a deputy for the Wilkinson County Sheriff's Office. In 2024, he became a sergeant for the Fort Valley Police Department. He hopes Laurens County is ready for a change in leadership.
"I wanna get it back to the way it used to be. But with a new spin," Jackson said.
He said he believes changes should start from the top down, with the sheriff setting a more accessible example.
"Just be more of a- approachable. As a sheriff. Another thing that I had an idea is, we're gonna do, tall- town-hall meetings at the sheriff's office with citizens who have concerns," he said.
He wants to hold town hall meetings quarterly and said if he gets elected he'll make a big effort to get to know everyone in town and be accessible to citizens.
13WMAZ asked him what he sees as the biggest problems facing the county.
He said he wants to see Laurens County get safer for everybody. Mental health, drugs and gangs are his top priorities. But the biggest problem he said is the leadership and lack of morale at the Sheriff's Office.
"If you don't have great quality leadership, then it rolls down to the deputies. Then, you're, you're gonna have a major problem. And with my leadership and expertise, we're gonna treat people right," Jackson said.
He said he wants to create a more positive culture at the sheriff's office, and get newer technology for the deputies, so they can work more efficiently from the field. He said he's happy Sheriff Larry Dean announced a $7,000 pay raise for deputies last month but believes that raise should have came years ago.
If elected, he wants to give deputies an additional pay raise, along with giving a pay raise to other staff members, such as secretaries and jail officers.
Jackson said the sheriff's office currently has too many unnecessary positions, such as three majors. He believes one major is enough.
"We'll reallocate positions. To put some of the positions that's in the office back in the community," Jackson said.
He wants to make it clear that he's not planning to fire anybody from those positions. He only wants to move them to a different position. He also wants to create partnerships between the sheriff's office and community resources, that deputies can turn to for help with mental health calls.
He'd like to create a task force that targets drugs and gangs in Laurens County. He said he'd like to partner with other law enforcement agencies to tackle the problems together. One way he'd like to work on the problems is getting deputies more involved in proactive patrols.
"You need to know the community. You need to know where these activities are happening. Concentrated patrol, get intel," Jackson said.
He also wants to create programs, like sports teams, for children through the sheriff's office to build strong relationships with the next generation. He hopes that can reduce crime- proactively.
"Show them a different perspective of law enforcement. Show them that hey, we're not bullies. We, we're local heroes who's trying to inspire you to do something great," Jackson said.
You can watch our full interview with Jackson here on our YouTube page.