Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman is set to kick off his 2020 re-election campaign next weekend with a wild game dinner event at the Reid Barn on Majors Road in Forsyth County.
Freeman, a longtime law enforcement officer and resident of Forsyth County, was elected to office in 2017, defeating incumbent sheriff Duane K. Piper in every precinct with 12,393 (64%) votes, according to the Secretary of State website.
“Having the privilege to serve as your sheriff is the greatest honor I have ever had and one I never take lightly,” Freeman’s candidate website states. “Since taking office in 2017, I have kept my word; we have taken every opportunity to keep Forsyth safe. We have increased our presence greatly on all fronts and our crime rates are the lowest in all of Metro Atlanta.”
During the 2016 election, Freeman ran on promises of resource management, increased public and school safety, and restoring accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
Safety of Forsyth County’s children is the sheriff’s first priority going into the 2020 election, according to the website.
Over the last three years the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office and Forsyth County school system have increased the number of school resource deputies in the county from 13 to 40, the website states, reportedly placing a full-time deputy with a body camera on every physical campus and two deputies at every major high school.
The website touts that since his election Freeman has followed through on other campaign promises, targeting drug dealers with the Johns Creek Alpharetta Forsyth County Drug Task Force, earning accreditation from the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies, streamlining purchases by eliminating excess spending, and increasing community outreach through social media and online resources.
“Our partnerships with our citizens has never been stronger and that shows in the community support FCSO receives every day,” the website states. “Forsyth County remains the place to live and raise a family and with your help, the men and women of the sheriff’s office will keep it that way.”
Freeman, a Forsyth County High School graduate, was hired as a sheriff’s deputy in 1987 and worked his way up the ranks to become a commander of the south precinct and chief of detectives.
After leaving the sheriff’s office in 2013, Freeman spent two years helping build the Brookhaven Police Department as its deputy chief of police.
Freeman holds a master’s in public administration; a bachelor’s in organizational leadership; an associate’s in criminal justice; and is currently pursuing a doctorate in public policy administration at Walden University.
Freeman is a graduate of several elite law enforcement leadership schools, including the FBI National Academy, the Georgia Law Enforcement Command College, the FBI Executive Development School and the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute Government Management Certification.
He is the past president of the FBI National Academy, Police Benevolent Association of Georgia and serves on the board of directors for the FBI Executive Development Association of Georgia.