BLECKLEY COUNTY, Ga. — On Nov. 7, only one man will be given the title of Bleckley County Sheriff.
Daniel Cape and Chris Smith are both Bleckley County natives who have been working with the agency for more than a decade.
Currently, Cape serves as the interim Sheriff. He was given the role in August after Kris Coody stepped down. Previously, Cape was chief deputy for seven years and has spent a total of 27 years with Bleckley County.
Chris Smith is a Captain student resource officer with the Bleckley County School District. He started as an SRO in 2009 and has been with the sheriff's office for a total of 19 years.
WMAZ sat down with both to ask them questions about their campaign.
Q: Why do you want to be Sheriff of Bleckley County?
Cape: "I want to be sheriff not so much for me but for the agency, the men and women who work for me, and the men and women of Bleckley County."
Smith: "I've invested a lot of time in Bleckley County. I've been in this county as a law enforcement officer, and it's home. I've raised my family here, I've got five children, and this is home and I want to take care of it."
Q: What problems do you see in Bleckley County, and what are your plans to fix it?
Both Cape and Smith recognize drugs and gangs are an issue in the county.
Cape: "We have established a top ten list and it's ever-changing — we've changed it a couple of times because we had arrested people that are on there. And we do that with complaints that we get, surveillance that we've conducted, investigations that have led to say, 'Hey this person, this area is a problem."
Smith: "The main thing is to minimize the effects of this stuff on our community with small people you know everybody. We got the problems with the drugs, we got the problems with a little bit of the gangs and we just want to make Bleckley County safe.
Q: With the Coody situation, how do you plan to continue keeping the office running smoothly?
Cape: "I can speak on since I've been sheriff since Aug. 21, and the office is running smoothly. Everyone's enjoying the job they do and we're going to keep on doing that. And I think I do that by letting them know that I am going to be standing by their side as long as they're doing what's right, I'll be standing by them."
Smith: "The situation is unfortunate, but at the end of the day, we still have to be here for the public and the citizens of Bleckley County. My goal and my job is simple: is to keep serving those people and serving them with the effect that they are happy with."