Sheriff candidates discuss homelessness, immigration
By Ken Lay
The race to become Knox County’s next sheriff has kicked into high gear, and four candidates are bidding to replace Tom Spangler, who will soon depart the office due to term limits.
Spangler is completing his second term as Knox County Sheriff as he’s served the county in that capacity for nearly eight years.
The four candidates looking to become Knox County’s sheriff include Jimmy “J.J.” Jones, David Amburn, Mike Davis and Brent Gibson.
All have extensive law enforcement experience.
Jones served as Knox County Sheriff from 2007-2018. Amburn is KCSO’s Chief of Detectives, while Davis worked for the sheriff’s office before becoming a federal agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Gibson served as the KCSO’s former Assistant Chief Deputy.
Early last week, the four candidates participated in a forum, hosted by the Greater Knoxville Hospitality Association at Knoxville’s Embassy Suites West on Monday, March 30.
The candidates answered questions regarding some of the issues that concern county voters.
Homelessness and immigration took center stage last Monday night, and Jones’ sales pitch was based largely on his previous experience as Knox County Sheriff.
“I was a sheriff for 11 years from 2007-18,” Jones said. “I’ve done the job and I’m ready to do the job again.”
Jones, however, ended last week’s event by admitting that all of the candidates would be good for Knox County.
“All four of these people here will do a good job,” he said.
For Davis, the duty of sheriff is a calling to protect and serve an extended family.
“The people of Knox County are my extended family, and it’s a calling for me to protect them,” Davis said.
Amburn said that a growing Knox County stands as a crossroads during this election cycle.
“We’re on a crossroad for both the size of our county and how it’s growing,” he said. “Law enforcement is a part of that.”
Gibson, a former University of Tennessee football player, is not a native of Knoxville. But he said that he’s found a home here and cherishes the opportunity to serve Knox County.
“I’m not from here,” he said. “I came here to play ball in 1992 at the University of Tennessee. I love this county and I love this town.”
On the issue of homelessness, Amburn and Davis both said the problem is bigger than the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s not against the law to be homeless, and we can’t arrest our way out of the problem of homeless,” Amburn said.
He also noted that there are different degrees of homelessness.
“Homelessness is very complicated,” Amburn said. “There’s different degrees of people that are homeless, from people sleeping in their cars and still working jobs.”
Davis said that he has sympathy for the homeless, but also adds that the rights of business owners must take top priority.
“I’ve got compassion for the homeless,” he said. “But the rights of the homeless don’t supersede the rights of the business owners and taxpayers of Knox County.”
Jones said he’s seen the problem of homelessness grow since he went into county law enforcement.
“Five or seven years ago, you didn’t see people on the side of the road,” he said. “You see it in the news, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and that didn’t happen overnight.
“It’s a problem that’s been let go, let go and let go.”
Gibson agreed, but also claimed that not all of the homeless population is originally from Knox County.
“I remember when I first started, there were just a handful of homeless people, and we knew them all by name, even in the city,” Gibson said. “We know for a fact that they’re coming from other places.
“Other law enforcement agencies are bringing them here.”
On the issue of immigration, the candidates explained their strategies to combat the problem.
Jones and Davis are looking to have the sheriff’s office partner with ICE, while Amburn said that immigration enforcement cannot take center stage for the KCSO, and Gibson doesn’t want to ask for federal assistance.
“We can send officers to federal training, and then when they come back, they have credentials just like a federal officer,” Jones said.
Davis said he would be proactive in handling immigration.
“We’re going to work with ICE and be proactive in enforcing the law,” he said.
Gibson doesn’t necessarily want ICE to have to come to Knox County.
“I want to police my county, and I don’t want federal authorities to have to come in here and have to police the county,” he said.
Amburn said that he would emphasize balance in dealing with immigration.
He said he would work to back up ICE, but doesn’t necessarily want a partnership with federal agents.
“We need to make sure that we keep that balance, that we can answer the normal calls for service,” Amburn said.
