Wake County sheriff clearing gun permit backlog, promoting women to top jobs
Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker said Thursday his office has eliminated a backlog of 5,000 gun permit applications left over from the last administration, many of which were denied.
In his first “State of the Sheriff” address, Baker cited wiping out that uncompleted work as one of his top accomplishments since winning election in 2018.
Since then, he said, his office denied more than 4,600 pistol permit applications out of more than 20,000 submitted last year. It also rejected 81 concealed weapons permits out of more than 10,000 applications.
“It really threw things behind,” Baker said. “That was prior to this administration, so I don’t want to speak on it.”
Baker’s address followed several incidents showing tension between both the county government and former Sheriff Donnie Harrison, whom Baker defeated in a 2018 election marked by disagreements over cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
In December, Baker responded to “leaked” memos from within county government, critical of several hiring and financial practices. Among other things, they mentioned unqualified employees holding ranking positions and noncompetitive bidding.
At the time, Baker said he continues to contend with staff unhappy about the new administration, and he said the memos fail to mention his ongoing cooperation with the county to address these concerns. A county spokeswoman countered that the memos were not leaked but released in response to a public records request.
On Thursday, Baker announced two promotions he called historic.
For the first time, he said, a female deputy will head his patrol division: Maj. Karen Battle. Also, the Sheriff’s Office will have its first woman on the tactical response, or SWAT, team: Master Deputy Latasha Bromell.
“We have begun to transform the Wake County Sheriff’s Office into an agency that serves all citizens and while using resources efficiently,” he said. “This senior team is the most diverse senior leadership team Wake County has seen in the last 16 years.”
Baker highlighted a list of statistics from 2019:
▪ five homicides, four of which were cleared by arrest
▪ 20 sex offenders arrested, adding to 953 on the county registry
▪ 19 cars and 89 guns seized
▪ drug seizures totaling more than $102 million, including 562 pounds of cocaine and 30,000 grams of heroin.
In December, Baker abruptly cut ties with a private contractor running the Wake County Firearm Education and Training Center outside Holly Springs, alleging the center was not making enough money.
The sheriff had planned to close the center to the public and convert it to a law enforcement firing range only, but Wake County Manager David Ellis soon announced the county would take control and consider public access.
On Thursday, Baker said he looks forward to working with the county staff and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to opening it again.
“There was never any intent to deny them any access to it,” he said, “but management at the time ... there were certain things going on there that needed to be dealt with.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Wake County sheriff clearing gun permit backlog, promoting women to top jobs."