Ivey feels he’s the best choice to lead
NOTHING IN MY
CLOSET C ERICJOHNSON
Sheriff’s Lt. John Ivey makes no bones about it — he thinks he is the best man to replace Ronnie Strength as sheriff of Richmond County. “I actually believe I’m the only one who can be fair,” he says. “I’ve worked with them all. I know them all — that’s why I’m in this race. This county deserves better.” An African-American with 32 years on the force, Ivey has seen many changes in Augusta, but he insists things are still lagging behind at the Sheriff’s Office, which he says is plagued by an unfair promotion system that is costing Augusta good law enforcement officers “A lot of them will tell you they don’t have a future,” he says. “When they talk about not having a future, they don’t have any way of advancing because of who they are.” The promotion process, he says, is too centralized. And too white. “I don’t know how these people are chosen [for the promotions board], but I know this — they’re all white,” he says. “And that itself is a
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problem.” Ivey is old enough to remember a time when blacks couldn’t patrol certain areas and when they couldn’t go into certain businesses, and while that has changed, he says the thinking about black officers hasn’t. “It’s sad to say because a lot of officers that are white got there because of that,” he says. “That’s the reason, because they knew somebody. That’s what’s wrong with the department, and that hasn’t changed. They don’t want it to change, because their families get jobs and their families get opportunities.” While he was able to work his way through the system, he says it was never easy. “It’s always been a system I’ve recognized,” he says. “To the new generation — it’s hard for them. They work hard and they know they don’t have a future — that’s why they leave. Me — I knew how to get around it and how to
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