BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–On Monday morning, Brian Adams appeared on The Morning Report with Jay Harper on WQSC to discuss Tuesday’s Republican runoff for sheriff. Tomorrow Adams will face Duane Lewis at the polls.
The candidate who wins will then head to the general election, facing Democratic candidate Anthony Smalls.
Adams is currently a police officer with the North Charleston Police Department with more than twenty years of experience in law enforcement.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been involved in several different areas: investigations, persons and property. I’ve also been involved in special operations. I’ve been through several commander leadership, counseling schools,” Adams told Harper. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be a drug commander instructor for the state of South Carolina. I’ve been with NCPD for twenty years, and I’ve worked my way up to the rank of lieutenant.”
Since last month’s primary, Adams told Harper that his team has been reaching out to as many voters as possible either by phone or in person.
“Between the primary and today we’ve almost touched 3,000 doors,” Adams told Harper live on the air.
If elected, Adams vows to restore trust and integrity to the sheriff’s office. Already, he’s received endorsements from several state lawmakers, the South Carolina Benevolent Association and The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) of SC, Lowcountry Chapter.
However, throughout the course of Adams’ campaign for sheriff, he’s face a few hurdles along the way. Right before for the primary, Bonneau Police Chief Franco Fuda filed a petition to disqualify Adams from the primary after he failed to include his graduation date on the affidavit.
In the end, the Berkeley Co. Republican Party voted to not disqualify Adams from the primary. After last month’s election, Fuda was one of nine former candidates running for sheriff who then went on to endorse Duane Lewis.
During the interview, Harper asked Adams if he had felt if the race had gotten personal.
“I don’t worry about it to tell you the truth. I know what I’m doing. I know what my team is out there doing,” Adams responded. “I’m not concerned about those endorsements. At the end of the day, the big difference with me is I knew I had a plan. I had a new direction I wanted the sheriff’s office to go in—and I think they might have saw that plan and that is why they are worried about my direction.”
As for the latest obstacle— Adams is facing allegations that he promised former sheriff candidate, Jerry Merrithew, a captain’s position if he dropped out of the primary. The story was first reported recently by FitsNews.
“First of all, FitsNews, I don’t pay any attention to. Second of all, I met with several different candidates. There’s always meetings going on. I actually had other candidates say they were going to endorse me after the primary, and we just moved on. I didn’t worry about it,” stated Adams. “I think this is just another way to muddy the water, and I’m really kind of ignoring it and moving on.”
Despite several pitfalls, Adams has his eyes on the finish line. In fact, he says he’s been working on his campaign for sheriff for the last 2.5 years.
“I have a lot of friends that work at Berkeley County, and looking at things I started FOIA’ing some information, looking at reports,” stated Adams. “The command staff there at the time had forgotten how to provide a service to those inside the county. I started seeing that from the outside looking in. I looked at that, their equipment, personnel issues. I realized at that time, I can make a difference, and I need to start getting out there, pushing my message of getting back into the community.”
Adams told Harper that he wants to take a lot of administrative positions and restructure them in an effort to put more deputies on the road.
“It would not be a strain on the budget. There are positions that already have the equipment, the training, the personnel—so let’s move them back to the road and start providing a service,” explained Adams. “Then we need to start working with the community leaders and civic leaders—find out what they need because every community is going to be different around the county.”
When it comes to body cameras, Adams says he supports the use of them 100 percent in law enforcement.
“I think they are a very important aspect for law enforcement in the future. It’s important that when we decide to do this that we protect the rights of everybody,” stated Adams. “We’re going to have to work with council and see exactly where we’re going to get the funding. We’ve got to get cameras in cars first. There’s only eight cars inside Berkeley County that have cameras and audio equipment in them now.”
During the course of the radio interview, Adams also stated that patrol units were the backbone of every law enforcement agency and that drugs were one of the biggest problems facing the county.
“It leads to a lot of other crimes between burglaries and thefts—just all these other things,” stated Adams. “The good thing is 18 years of my career has been in specialized areas in dealing with narcotics.”
To learn more about Adams, click here.
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