PULASKI COUNTY, Ga. — The Hawkinsville Opera House was crowded Thursday evening for a different kind of show. The Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Chamber hosted a Political Town Hall.
Voters were greeted at the door by candidates giving them the chance to interact one-on-one. Five republican sheriff candidates took the stage for the community forum.
Greg Hattaway, Wayne Wiley, Terry Hood, and Amanda Vaughn are running against Sheriff Danny Brannen.
The candidates were asked what they would need to make the county more efficient. Hood said he wants to address the drug problem in the community.
"If another local agency calls me and wants to come serve a warrant if they've got an arrest warrant for people selling drugs, I don't care come over here and get them. It's not about getting credit; it's about getting the drugs and illegal weapons off of the streets," Hood said.
Vaughn said they need the manpower to enforce anything.
"If we do not have the people to do that, we're not going to be addressing anything so my biggest plan is to bring back all of the officers that have left Pulaski County," Vaughn said.
Sheriff Brannen said he lost deputies because of the pay rate, but he says that's changed.
"We have got raises and we have got our deputies paid up to where we can get some more, but I'm not getting no applications," Brannen said.
Hattaway said they can recruit within the community and from the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, but training is also a priority.
"One of the other needs we have is training specifically crisis intervention training that deals with mental health this plagues the nation and we need specific training to be able to handle that. The days of snatching them up and throwing them in jail is over folks," Hattaway said.
Wiley said there are grants available to get the department upgrades.
"There's tons of grants out there with things we can get and not just equipment, but it would help train the deputies also and then training for them which in turn gives you better service assistance," Wiley said.
All of the candidates agreed there needs to be more school resource officers to protect kids in the community, and they vowed to protect the Second Amendment.
All of these candidates for sheriff are running in one party, so the May election will determine who will be on the November ballot by themselves for Pulaski County Sheriff.