1.
Name
R: Ben F. Johnson
2. Age
R: 58
3: Contact Address
R:
4. Contact Phone Number
R: (386) 473-0500
5. Contact E-Mail Address
6.
Web site
R: www.benjohnsonforsheriff.com
7: Office Sought
R: Sheriff,
8. Educational Background
R: Graduated
Associate of
Science Degree in Criminal Justice,
Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal
Justice,
9. Occupation, Training & Experience
R: Currently Sheriff of Volusia County since January 2001; prior to being elected Sheriff, served in the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office for 26½ years in all areas of responsibility, from patrol deputy through Lieutenant; Assignments in all areas of the agency, including District Commander, Investigations, SWAT Entry Team Leader, Records, Warrants, Extraditions, Prisoner Transport and Motors; Graduate of the FBI National Academy
10.A. Name the two most important issues that you believe are of concern to your district and how you would address each.
R: The two most important issues are narcotics-related crime and the ability to continue providing high-quality services to the public with dwindling revenues. Regarding narcotics-related crime, I plan to address this issue by continuing to be extremely proactive in the enforcement of drug laws and also continuing to work closely with prosecutors to seek strict sentencing for drug offenders. We will also continue to actively support and participate in existing multi-agency Task Forces such as the Volusia Bureau of Investigation, West Volusia Narcotics Task Force and East Volusia Narcotics Task Force in order to share and combine the law enforcement resources needed to effectively combat the drug problem. In short, we will continue to disrupt both the supply and demand for illegal drugs, targeting both street level dealers and large-scale traffickers. Regarding the provision of high-quality services to the public with dwindling revenues, the Sheriff’s Office under my administration has been extremely aggressive in seeking public-private partnerships to fund major acquisitions such as our bomb robot to reduce the burden on taxpayers. Additionally, we’ve worked with surrounding law enforcement agencies to combine services such as public safety dispatching in order to improve efficiency and reduce redundancy and costs. We will continue to analyze our operations, seek out efficiencies and cost-cutting opportunities and work with other agencies and the private sector in order to provide quality public safety services in a way that maximizes resources and minimizes the impact on taxpayers.
10.B. What is your position on the State Legislature dictating local government taxation and revenue policy?
R: There’s no
question that
11. The duty to ensure safety of the general public often comes into conflict with Constitutional protections, such as prohibition of search and seizure. How do you balance public duty and individual rights?
R: Actually, I don’t see a conflict there. I’m a strong supporter of individual rights, including the right to privacy and the right to gun ownership. Constitutional protections are precious rights that need to be respected and defended, as they ensure fairness in the administration of justice. These rights don’t hinder good police work and help ensure that law enforcement does its job properly and lawfully. I personally advise every new Deputy to treat everyone they encounter with courtesy and fairness and to never stretch probable cause for the sake of making an arrest. Every arrest must be done in a lawful manner and with respect to individual rights in order for the charges to stand up in court. This is the American way and is as it should be.
12. Officers’ salaries are not adequate and must often be supplemented with overtime or off-duty pay. What are your ideas that may be remedies to this problem?
R: I wholeheartedly support higher wages for our Deputies in order to more fairly compensate them for the job they do putting their lives on the line in service to the community. However, given the present fiscal climate and revenue reductions, my primary objective is to preserve jobs so that we can keep our Deputies employed and avoid layoffs. It’s my sincere hope that salary adjustments can be addressed just as soon as the economic and budgetary situation stabilizes.
13. Name a specific issue that we have not addressed that you feel is important to your constituents.
R: The inadequate funding of drug treatment, juvenile delinquency and mental health programs. Regarding drug treatment, many offenses are committed by people with no criminal intent other than to rob and steal in order to feed a drug addiction. I feel strongly that more money should be invested in drug treatment programs to help break the cycle of crime and addiction. The same goes for mental health and juvenile delinquency programs. The failure to adequately fund these programs results in high societal costs in the way of more crime victims, revolving-door justice and the need for bigger tax burdens to fund more jail space.