Name: Quentin Miller
Profession: Sergeant at the Asheville Police Department (APD).
In up to two words, describe your political affiliation: Progressive Democrat
In one brief sentence, describe yourself and why you’re running: I’m running to change the mindset of the Sheriff’s office from that of a warrior to the mindset of a guardian.
1) Based on your experience, what is your assessment of the state of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s office?
Sheriff Duncan has done a good job. We must remember that his predecessor Bobby Medford is still in prison for corruption during his term as Sheriff.
That said, we can build on what Sheriff Duncan has done. My policy platform for the Sheriff’s office is based on six pillars of modern policing and mirrors a report from President Obama’s task force on 21st Century policing.
Every officer must be empowered with the necessary training to keep our staff and community safe. That means consistent de-escalation training and ongoing support for all deputies. De-escalation is a proven tactic to make policing safer for the public and for officers. This element of a training program helps deputies assess potentially dangerous situations and minimize the risk of harm for everyone involved.
I hope to change the mindset of the Sheriff’s office from that of warriors to a mindset of guardians.
2) What do you see as the most effective way to respond to the opioid epidemic?
The opioids crisis is the biggest challenge facing Buncombe County. White or back, rich or poor, every demographic group is being impacted by the disease of opioid addiction.
I say disease because I believe we cannot arrest our way out of this problem. We cannot repeat the mistakes that were, and still are, being made from the “War on Drugs.” People suffering from a disease need treatment and help.
Treatment options must be an alternative to incarceration for non-violent individuals. Also, we must work to educate our community about how addictive and dangerous pain pills are.
There are no easy answers to this crisis. It will take a community response to begin to tackle this and it will take years. We cannot pretend that issues of addiction and disease can be solved overnight. But we are taking some steps to help.
I applaud the Buncombe County Commissioners for suing pharmaceutical companies who are responsible for accelerating this crisis by dumping millions of powerful pain pills into our community. And our Drug Treatment Court has been an important program. It’s helps keep non-violent, low-level offenders out of jail and instead works to get them into recovery. I’m proud to have been the first officer at the Asheville Police Department to serve as part of that initiative.
3) Trans and non-binary people, especially trans and non-binary people of color, have traditionally faced discriminatory treatment from law enforcement around the country, including in the conduct of officers towards them, their treatment if arrested or jailed and in law enforcement failing to take attacks against them seriously. What ways will you work to change that?
Part of it is changing the mindset of the Sheriff’s office so that every individual is treated with respect. But also, when talking about specific populations with a specific lived experience, we need to outreach to those communities and understand what their interactions with police have looked like, but also what challenges do they face in general. So sitting down with transgender and non-binary individuals, transgender individuals who are black or Latinx, is a first step.
I’ve had the opportunity to speak with transgender individuals one-on-one and attend some public forums that address these issues – again I’m still at the beginning stages of learning what the day-to-day reality looks like, because that’s not my personal experience. Listening first is key.
4) Buncombe County, in particular, has a serious domestic violence problem. What do you believe is the best approach to fighting this threat?
Let’s talk about the statistics behind domestic violence and guns. According to a Center for Disease Control (CDC) study looking at 11 years of data on the murders of women, 55 percent of those deaths resulted from “intimate partner violence-related” action. And further 54 percent of those incidents were the result of a gun.
These are grim statistics, but we must have the difficult conversations around issues of domestic violence.
The Family Justice Center has been a great step forward by the county, that’s one thing we’re doing right.
5) Do you view violent right-wing extremists — such as Neo-Nazis, the “alt-right” and the KKK — as a major problem? If so, how will you respond to that problem if elected?
We’ve seen a number of incidents of domestic terrorism in the past few years that have been traced back to Neo-Nazi type groups. The violence we saw in Charlottesville was deeply troubling. Anytime you have people marching who are proudly displaying Nazi tattoos or clothing that’s disturbing.
6) Will you refuse to cooperate or support any operations with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including with resources, personnel or information?
No. Let me be absolutely clear on this – I will not sign a 287g agreement with ICE.
If folks are picked up in Buncombe or Henderson County by ICE they are sent to Fort Stewart in rural south Georgia. That’s a long way from here and makes it difficult for family members to see their loved ones and offer support during detention.
The fact that they can be detained without counsel or held indefinitely, I strongly disagree with.
Let me also say I support the DREAMers. We’re better off because we have these brave young folks contributing to our nation.
7) Will you accept military surplus weapons and equipment, such as those offered through the federal 1033 program?
Yes. However, we do not need grenade launchers or other similar type items at the Sheriff’s office. To my knowledge the BCSO does not have grenade launchers as has been rumored. There is an armored vehicle that is used in hostage type situations or standoffs that serves a purpose. As someone who served 11 years in the U.S. Army I have no interest in using military-type tactics with residents of Buncombe County, but if someone who is armed has barricaded themselves inside a building, has a bomb/explosive device or takes hostages we have to be prepared for those situations and the armored vehicle has been necessary in these cases.
8) Do you support the proposals for increased oversight on local law enforcement endorsed by Buncombe County commissioners Al Whitesides, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and Ellen Frost?
No. I say no because I hope we will work collaboratively with each other and develop and jointly present proposals to the public. I say yes because I will always accept more funding that is dedicated to training for deputies.
If elected I will continue to build the relationships I have with the county commissioners. I will always be willing to sit down and talk with our county commissioners about what, why and how the Buncombe County Sheriff’s office is operating.
9) Racial disparities in traffic stops and searches are a major community concern. Do you support the policies proposed by the local NAACP to counter them, particularly de-emphasizing minor regulatory violations and requiring written approval for consent searches?
Yes, I agree that racial disparities in traffic stops are a problem. First, let me say thank you to the community activists who made this data available and started the discussion.
I support requiring written consent for searches, but more important than that is having our community understand their legal rights during a stop. Even if verbal and/or written consent is granted by an individual to an officer or deputy during a stop, it can be revoked verbally by the individual. That may be surprising to members of the public. So, again, first and foremost, I want people to understand their rights when interacting with law enforcement
10) Will you commit to having a force of sheriff’s deputies that is at least 20 percent black and latino by the end of your first term in office?
No. The first step is diversifying the office is at the level of command staff. Once that is in place we can them implement targeted recruitment programs and pipelines in order to bring in more rank and file officers that are black and latino.
But I’d also add some important components of diversity. What about women? What about people who are born and raised in poverty in Buncombe County who work their way out of those circumstances? What about the significant populations of Ukrainians and Moldovans living in Buncombe County? All of these elements of diversity need to be a part of the Sheriff’s office.
Yes, racial diversity is crucial to having a Sheriff’s office that can truly serve the community, but we must not stop there. And diversity in leadership positions is key, inclusion does not automatically mean that you have power.